L4yers of War
by fithola
Summary: Years before the Turn Michonne and Rick meet, the two end up spending a memorable night together. When they finally meet again at the end of the world, Michonne's stand at an enemy's side while Rick holds a part of Michonne she thought she lost forever. Rated M: for later. SlowBurn. Richonne. #IDoNotOwnTheWalkingDead
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: If this story seem like it's been done before, apologies. I am not trying to 'steal' anyone work. It was just a thought that came to me, nagging at me and I HAD to write it out to release the pressure (avid writers know what I am talking about). Anyways, please leave your thoughts. I would love to hear what you all think. Thank you in advance! - Fithola**

 **Found L4yers (2Years Ago)**

"Stay here."

"But Dad –"

"Stay. Here."

"Dad."

"Carl! We're going to check out the camp and be back in thirty minutes, please stay here."

The young boy pouted looking down at his feet but nodded.

"Do you remember where we parked the car?"

"Pass the split tree… towards the sun," Carl said pointing to the direction that they came from.

"Good, if you see any walkers, you run towards the car otherwise stay here."

Carl said nothing, still pouting over his father's order.

"Carl?" Rick said forceful, commanding the young boy's attention. Carl looked up into his father's blue eyes.

"Yea?"

His father held out a gun to him, "You remember what Shane and I taught you?"

Carl nodded eagerly, he just started to learn how to use a gun a few weeks ago. His mother would spaz if she found out his father gave him a gun, he can't help but smile.

"This is not a toy! Don't use it unless you have no other options."

"I can come with you, I can help."

"Help by staying here. Thirty minutes, I'll be back. Stay here."

Carl nodded again. Rick removed his watch hand it to Carl before placing a kiss on the boy's forehead. He and Glenn turned towards the direction of the camp and start their way there.

On the hilltop, Carl watched his father and Glenn descend towards the camp, the place is destroyed. Heaps of fire burn throughout the camp with the dead stumbling around.

Carl doubt that his father and Glenn would find any survivors but they wanted to take a closer look at the camp. They wanted to see if there were any supplies that could be salvage.

Impatiently waiting Carl glanced at his father's watch, ten minutes had passed. Carl paced back and forth impatient and annoyed, grumbling to himself that his father still treating him like a child.

"I'm not a baby! I'm not a little kid! I can help," The pre-teen shouted to himself waving the heavy gun in his hand.

Another ten minutes passed with no sign of his father or Glenn.

"Ten more minutes… then I'll go and find them," he said to himself, nodding at his decision.

Another five minutes pass before Carl decide to go towards the camp when something in the distance caught his eyes. A walker ambled deeper into the woods instead of towards the heat and noise coming from the camp ground.

"Weird."

Curious, Carl followed the dead. Keeping his distance and as quiet as possible, he followed the walker for five minutes treading deeper into the woods. He's surprised when he see the walker join two others surrounding and pawing at a tree. Carl watched the dead who seemed agitated trying to get something in the tree.

"Probably a squirrel or a bird," he mumbled to himself. He shook his head, deciding to return to the spot where his father left him before his father return.

Carl start away from the tree when he heard a whimper, he froze and turn toward the tree waiting to hear the sound again. Only the groans of the dead can be heard, as he start to turn away, he catch the sight of a small shoe falling from the tree. The walkers reached up the tree pawing wildly and growling louder. Another whimper, this one louder can be heard, a whimper that doesn't sound like it's from the dead.

Groaning louder and becoming more frantic the walkers try to reach whatever is hidden in the branches, rustling from the tree causes leaves to fall and the walkers to become desperate. Curiosity pulled him forward, he chance it and walk closer to the tree. He stared up and startled backward as blue eyes filled with fear and tears stare back at him.

Carl stagger backwards and almost tripping over as he do he curses, "Shit."

A walker turned in his direction, it start to amble towards him. Without thought Carl raise the heavy gun and start to fire; the kickback from the gun caused him to stumble back, he tripped and land on his back stunned for a brief moment. Several bullets hit the dead in the chest but it doesn't go down.

Carl remember the lesson his father and Shane gave him, the head.

Carl adjust his aim and fire at the head. The walker fall immediately to the ground, at the first sound of gun fire the other two walker turn their attention to the noise. He scrambled to his feet as the second walker nears him.

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Rick heard the gun shot. He glanced at Glenn, then toward the burning camp they emerged from.

"Carl."

Rick break out in a sprint toward the direction where he left Carl. When he arrive at the stump where his son should be, it is empty. More gun shots ring out in the distance. Rick turn and race towards the sound with Glenn a step behind him.

Rick arrived to find several walkers dead with Carl standing amongst them covered in blood.

"Carl!"

Carl look up to his father, he raise his hands knowing his father's angry at him.

"Dad… don't be mad."

"I told you to stay put."

"Dad… I had to help."

"We were fine!'

"No… Not you."

"Who, Carl?"

Carl stepped aside, behind him stood a caramel skin boy with a thick stock of curly black hair covered in blood and dirt. The boy looked to be about three… maybe four years old and held his injured arm close to him. The young boy shyly looked up at him; Rick stumble forward as he's startled to look into the boy's familiar cerulean blue eyes.

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Before the car pulled to a stop, she leapt out the moving vehicle sprinting towards the burning camp.

"Michonne!"

She heard her name being called out but it doesn't pierce the sound of her heartbeat in her ears. She unsheathe her sword as she dive into the destruction of her camp.

"ANDRE! MIKE… ANDRE! TERRY… ANDRE!" She yelled, searching the camp. She give a final death to any walker that crossed her path. When she reach her tent she rushed in and immediately freeze.

Her heart stop. Mike hold a trembling Terry in his arms. He look up at her and a sob escape his lips.

"Michonne," he croaked out.

She glance around the disarray tent, hoping to find the only person in that moment that truly mattered.

"Where is my son?" She asked with a calm that doesn't reflect the inner turmoil boiling instead of her.

Mike sobbed louder. She noticed the bite gash in his arm. She noticed remnants of the weed on the makeshift table. Her anger start to churn into rage. Finally she noticed one of Andre's shoes at the entrance of the door.

"WHERE IS MY SON!" She screamed. Her rage overpowering at her fake calm.

"Chonny… baby… I…"

She doesn't allow him to finish. She tear out her tent, leaving a sobbing Mike and a dying Terry. Her only thoughts are on her son. She rushed out and began her search of the camp.

 _Maybe…maybe he's safe. Maybe he got away._ She hope.

The others three, who she went on a run with, help her search. Michonne searched the entire camp, screaming out Andre's name, fighting back tears and killing any walkers that dare cross her path. Near the back of the camp, her eyes catch the light of a familiar color, there's a hole in the fence with several gather walkers feasting on a body.

She slowly approached the walkers, the cracks in her heart slowly feathering out with each step. A dead noticed her approach, it ambled to its feet starting in her direction. A pale ashen honey colored arm in its grasp. As it stood, the arm fell to the ground. Another walker has Andre's red hoodie hanging with pieces of flesh from its mouth, it turned in her direction and start toward her as well. The third walker uncover the small body torn in shreds with entrails pouring from the belly, the walker also stumbled to its feet.

A blood curdling scream tear out of her throat. A swing of her blade took the first walker down, another swing took the other two with one blow.

Michonne dropped to her knees and pull the remnants of Andre's hoodie holding it close to her heart. Her tears violently shook her as she trembled with guilt for leaving him and grief of her lost. The cracks in her heart feathered and start to shatter apart, crumbling into dust and being blown away with the cool breeze of the Atlanta's air. A dark rage swell within her and bath everything in a red cast. When she stand, she see the world as it now has become, death, doom, destruction, and hate all shaded with a sinister red hue.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello All! First, thank you for reading and leaving comments, they are greatly appreciated. I love reading your thoughts and take on the story. The following takes place when Michonne and Rick first meet years before the Turn. This chapter is pretty lengthy, I was going to split it into two chapters but I thought it would be best as one. Hope you all enjoy! Thanks - Fithola**

 **L4yers of a Lifetime ago (5YearsAgo Before the Turn)**

She watched him as he dismissed the third woman to approach him. She smirked as she watched the unimpressive blonde woman, roll her eyes and huff away in disappointment.

Three women, he was handsome but for three women to throw themselves at him, she thought it comical. _He is not that attractive._ She thought.

She sipped on her martini, relaxed in her seat and took in the dimly lit bar. L4yers, she smirked at the name of the bar, spelled with the number 4 instead of an A.

 _How unimpressively ironic_. She thought.

Her co-workers talked about L4yers all the time but Michonne never joined them when they went out to happy hour at the local bar. Michonne looked around the room, still trying to figure out what was the big deal about the bar. She passed the place a thousand time before but never entered until tonight. Michonne shouldn't be there, she should be at Mike's apartment; her close friend of six years only lived three blocks away. Something pulled her inside the bar, maybe it was the fact she wanted to prolong the conversation she needed to have with him; maybe it was something else.

"You're too beautiful not to be smiling," a voice said next to her. She glanced at the new comer who sidled up next to her. He was burly looking man wearing a winkle ill-fitting suit, beady eyes and reeked of alcohol.

"Fuck off."

"Come on pretty lady, let me buy you a drink."

Michonne turned to face him, giving him a fiery cold once over before returning her dark gaze to his eyes.

"Fuck," She started pausing for effect, "Off."

The man grumbled and moved away not before calling her a "bitch" under his breath. Michonne smirked at the man. She took another sip of her martini and returned her eyes to the man at the bar.

Less than ten minutes passed before two women slinked up next to him. They smiled and leaned in, flirting with him. He leaned away from them, clearly not interested. Michonne watched as they touched his arm, leaned in and talked to him. He flinched away from their touched, he tried to dismiss them but the women weren't getting the hint. At one point he turned his back on the women but they continued to flirt with him. She shook her head at the women's desperation.

Michonne finished her martini and stood to her feet. She needed to go see Mike, her stomach twisted in knots at the thought of seeing him. She left a twenty on the table and started towards the exit when she heard a horse neigh of a chuckle. Glancing over her shoulder, one woman threw her head back laughing as the other one fell towards the man, touching his arm. The man grimace at the women, looking as if he were in pain. His eyes flickered up and locked with hers, a pleading look asking for help.

His eyes. It was his eyes that drew the women in, those cerulean blue spheres. He looked away from her and down at the woman who was practically laying on his chest.

Impulsively Michonne spun on her heels and swayed in their direction, she tapped the woman who practically crawled onto his lap. When she looked over her shoulder, Michonne flickered her wrist in a shoo-away movement. The woman stood and glared at her, Michonne pushed her way towards the man and smiled.

He smiled in return. _Maybe he was that attractive_ , the thought ran across her mind. It was his eyes and the way they lit when he smiled.

Michonne leaned in, smiled and pressed her lips against his.

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All Rick wanted to do was drink in peace before returning to his hotel for the night. It has been a practically rough day for him. Jeff Fredrick's death and still laid heavily upon his chest, Jeff was one of his fellow deputy and one of his closest friends beside Shane.

His friend's death wasn't the only thing laying heavily upon him, his marriage was falling apart. It has been for quite some time, for him it was to the point there were no salvaging it but Lori thought differently. She stilled believed their marriage could be saved. They've been separated for a couple of months and were a breath away from a divorce.

All Rick wanted was to be left alone, wallow in his sorrows and drink. That wasn't the case, almost as soon as he sat down he was battered by unsolicited advances from various women.

He dismissed the previous three as politely as his southern manners allowed but when the two slightly drunk women approached him, he was near the end of his southern manner rope.

He made a snide comment, meant to offend the women but they roared in laughter. One practically laid across his chest as she laughed. He rolled his eyes and look up, locking eyes with dark brown orbs.

He looked away from her when the woman with the hyena laugh hit his knee and leaned into him. He backed away deciding to close his tab and return to his room.

Suddenly the woman with the dark eyes was before them, she pulled the woman who laid upon him away and pushed her way towards him. She smiled and he became enraptured within her warmth. He felt his lips pull into a smile; she leaned in, smiling wider as she pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was soft, sweet, and slow. She pressed deeper into him and he parted his lips, his tongue seeking hers. Her hand snaked around his neck, curling into his hair as he deepened the kiss.

He became lost in the solace of the kiss, lost against the feel of lips against his, nothing else mattered in the moment. Her lips seemed to wash away all the pain of the day and cleared his trouble mind. Her lips seemed to be the solace he was seeking without the realization he was looking for it in the first place. An electric fire spark and lit encompassing them within a flame of desire, need, and want.

Rick reluctantly pulled away from the woman and stared into her stunning dark eyes. He could see the matching desire play across her eyes. He could see the electric fire burn within the dark molten orbs. He could see their possibilities.

Rick smiled.

She returned his smile with one of her own before breaking the intense eyes contact to look around to see the two women were gone.

"Thank you,"

"You're welcome."

She started to leave when Rick caught her wrist, "Allow me to buy you a drink as a proper thank you."

"I think that kiss was thank you enough."

He couldn't help his eyes as they quickly traveled the length of her body.

"Not nearly enough, please allow me to properly thank you."

She smirked at his choice of words, Rick felt his cheek redden but he didn't correct himself because he wanted that as well to fully thank her, all of her. She took a moment and considered declining his offer but she nodded and slipped into the barstool next to his. When the bartender arrive, she asked for a dry martini.

"Do you do this often?" He asked.

"What?"

"Kiss random men," he teased.

"It was that or battle it out in all out cat fight."

"I wouldn't have mind seeing you in a cat fight," Rick said as he does another full body scan of the mysterious woman, this time slower taking her all in. She dressed in a form fitting cream dress with gold zipper details that ran the length of her dress contouring to her curves. Her skin is dark, flawless and enticing, her dark eyes captivating and her lips full sensual, sweet, and soft. Her hair was swept up in a side bun showing off her slender neck. Rick felt the urge to rain kisses upon the exposed flesh. She was a beauty he had never seen before, exotic and enticing. Immediately Rick was intrigued by the dark skin woman wanting and needing to know all of her.

"Really?" She asked with one perfectly eyebrow arched as she slowly looked over him.

"Yea… but I preferred the kiss."

The bartender place her martini in front of her, she picked up and take a sip before saying, "Me too."

As easy as breathing they fell into conversation as if old friends. The melody of conversation, the verbal and the nonverbal, flowed effortlessly between them for several hours as they enjoy each other's company, their drinks long forgotten. As the midnight hour approach, the bartender comment about closing soon.

"I still don't know your name," Rick said.

She smile and only comment, "I should go."

"I don't want you to leave."

"I should."

"But you don't need to."

"We both have to. The bar is closing soon."

"We could go someplace else…"

Her eyebrow rise in question.

"To continue to talk," Rick added quickly.

She replied with a coy smile, "Is that all you want to do? Is talk?"

Rick leaned closer to her feeling bold, the truth falling from his lips with ease; "I want to kiss you again… and again… then all over."

Her eyes fluttered away at his candor and the intensity of his stare before slowly returning to his.

"You're married." She said pointing to his ring.

"Separated."

"Still married…you still wear her mark."

Rick looked down at his ring. They've been separated for two months, the divorce papers were ready to give it to her but he remember her threat to seek full custody of Carl and moved back to Maryland if Rick went through with the divorce. He wouldn't allow that to happen but her threat gave him paused, therefore she stilled marked him.

They sat in silence for several minutes before she spoke again.

"I should leave, he was expecting me hours ago."

"Who?"

"You have your Her," Michonne said pointing at his ring again, "And I have my, Him."

"Do you love your Him?"

"I could love him."

"But you don't?"

"He's a friend… a good friend… and it's about time to get him out of the zone and give him a chance... I'm getting to that age."

Rick chuckled before he said with all seriousness hearing the dread in her voice, "Sounds like you're settling."

"I have to when you have a Her," Michonne said playfully.

"We're separated."

"Still married."

"And if I wasn't?"

"Then maybe…maybe… I'll give you my mark to bear," She said leaning in, eyes flashing with mischief.

"You could wait," Rick offered, drawing closer to her. His eyes flickered down to her lips, she licked them slowly and waited as his eyes found hers again.

"Wait?"

"You've waited this long already."

She smiled wide. He was bold. He closed the remaining inches that kept them apart and kissed her. This kiss different from the last, a hunger propelled the kiss into depths that had her pulling him closer. He navigated the kiss with ease as he mapped the inside of her mouth with his tongue.

They pulled apart in silent gasp, staring into the depth of each other eyes, each coming to a decision. Rick looked away long enough to settle his tab before rising to his feet.

He held out his hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet and started out the bar. Rick led her outside, where they stood staring into each other's eyes before he leaned down and took her lips with his. He held her firmly against his body, feeling her tremble slightly in his arm. She moaned and it vibrated in his mouth; their tongue engaged in a lustful dance of need and want.

Still held in the folds of his arms, she pulled away and molten dark eyes stared into his.

"Her?" She asked.

"What about her?" Rick replied.

"If not her… then my Him. He's probably worried."

"Let him worry."

With that Rick took her lips again, she fell willingly into the heat of the kiss.

The taxi ride from the bar L4yers to his hotel was short, neither spoke as both were lost in their own thoughts. Rick held her close as he navigated the lobby of the hotel and rode the elevator to his room, not wanting to let her go in fear she may change her mind. Rick finally release her when he reached to pull his hotel key out from his wallet. He pushed the door open and stepped inside before turning to face her. Her eyes are set behind him, looking into the dark room trying to come to her own decision.

"Her," She said.

"You," Rick replied.

"Him."

"Me."

She smiled, her eyes shifting to look into his, "You have a reply for everything."

Rick smiled, he reached out his hand to her. She glance at the darkness behind him then to his hand and finally resting upon his eyes. Eyes so full of light and possibilities, she slowly take the outstretched hand and he pulled her into the room whispering, "Us."

His lips covered hers as he closed the door behind her.

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Rick laid in bed and watched as she slowly sauntered toward him completely bare of any clothing and only wearing a smile. A smile that could rival the sun. Smooth, flawless dark brown skin covers every inch of her perfect body. Perky full breast sits high, her areolas a darker shade of her mouthwatering skin with harden nipples begging to be sucked upon. She's tone and slim but curvy with a narrow waist, flat stomach, and a wicked curve to her hips with a full squeezable ass.

She's by far the sexiest woman, Rick has ever laid eyes on. Rick delighted in her confidence in her nudity. Many women wouldn't be so bold to bare themselves in this manner. Rick wanted her again…and again, for the rest of the night, for the rest of forever. His manhood start to harden again as she approached him, moving slow like liquid fire.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you want to devour me."

"But I did... and I do again," Rick said licking his lips.

She smiled as she sat on the bed next to him. Rick sat up in bed, the sheet pooling at his waist. Touching her hair, she moved away slightly.

"What?"

"Don't you know the rule? You're not supposed to touch a black woman's hair."

Rick laughed and he reached for her hair again, this time she allowed his touch.

"I like your hair, what is this style called?"

"Dreadlocks, I did the big chop last year and started it. I'm still getting used to it," She said.

"Dreadlocks… I like it," Rick said as he caressed her hair, "Its beautiful… just like you."

She shied away from the compliment and mutter a thank you. Rick's hand dropped to her neck, then to her firm breast. He liked the way his hand look against her skin; the contrast of the skin, his pale flesh against her dark enticing hue. He squeezed her breast and rolled her nipple in his hand, she closed her eyes against the sensation.

She lifted Rick's hand and brought it up to her lips and kissed it. The cool metal of his ring press against her lips. She pulled his hand away and examines his palm and the ring.

"Are you in loved with her?" She asked.

"No," Rick said giving her a searing look, she shudder and look away for a moment before turning to him again.

""Do you love her?" She asked.

"She's the mother of my child… I love her for that. She was my first love so she'll always have a special place in my heart."

"So you love her."

"In a sense…but I'm not in love with her… not for a while."

"Her."

"Her," Rick repeated.

"I don't do this..."

"What?"

"Sleep with married men."

"Separated."

"Still married," she replied with a smile.

"You think this is wrong?" He asked seriously.

"Don't you?" She asked in turn.

"No... Otherwise why does it feel so right? Like it's meant to me. Like we're meant to be. You. Me. Us. In this very moment."

"And what if we are only meant to have this moment?"

"I can't believe that. I don't… we're meant to be here in this moment but I believe we're are meant to have more," Rick answered wholeheartedly believing ever word.

"How can you possibly believe that?" She asked in wonder of his confidence.

"How can you not?"

She doesn't answer. They're silent for a minute as she continued to examine his hand before she spoke again.

"Falling in love with someone is slowly forgetting what you dislike about them."

"And falling out of love?" He asked.

"Is remembering everything that you disliked about them."

"And if I said I was falling in love with you?"

She release his hand and it immediately goes to cup her face. Her hand dropped to his bare chest, a smile teased at her full lips. "You don't know me enough to remember or forget anything you dislike about me."

"I like everything about you," Rick said eyes boring into hers.

She smiled wider, her hand moved from his chest lower to his lap. She found his manhood already rising. She stroked him to full length, Rick moaned at her sensual soft yet firm touch. She reached out with the other hand and grabbed a condom from the bedside drawer with one hand still stroking him while using her free hand and her teeth to open the condom.

Rick watched as she put the condom in her mouth and bend over his harden length. Using her lips and tongue she rolls the condom onto him, pulling him into her warm mouth.

"Especially that…. I like that!" Rick moaned.

She chuckled as she swung her leg over his. She assure the condom was firmly in place before she guide him into her needy slick center.

Rick groaned as he slide into her, she felt snuggly and like perfection around him. She throw her head back and moaned loudly.

"I like everything about you too," She said slowly rotating her hips upon him.

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It was mid-morning when Michonne emerged from the bathroom, a smile plastered to her face. She was dressed in the clothes from the night before but she didn't care, after the night she just had she was more than happy to do the walk of shame alongside the man she spent the night with.

She tossed the towel on the floor as she entered the hotel room. He stood by the window, dressed in a brown tee-shirt, dark jeans and dark brown boots.

Michonne knew something was wrong by the tense set of his shoulder and the deep grimace on his face. She moved closer and heard him talking and she knew it was the end of all their possibilities. It was the end of their moment. She felt her heart constrict with the pain of the coming loss of his soon departure would leave.

 _This shouldn't hurt. Why does this hurt?_ The thought came.

"Yea… I'm on my way. Y'all taking her to Macon General? Okay, I'll be there in an hour. I'm leaving now."

Michonne set her face in an impassive frown as he ended his call. He slipped his phone into his pocket and turned to face her.

His blue eyes were weighed with sadness, Michonne wanted to hold him. Instead she steeled her nerves and clamped down any emotions.

"I'm sorry…" He started.

"You have to go," She finished.

"Yea."

"Her?" Michonne asked, even though she knew.

"Yea… Her," he answered.

"It's okay."

"My son… he found her passed out in a pool of blood. I have to-"

"It's okay," Michonne said again cutting him off and forcing a smile.

He approached her, a hand cupping her cheek and pulling her close.

 _It was only one night. The pain of his loss should fade quickly._ She hoped.

She allowed the moment before pulling away, needing the pain to start to fade.

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Rick checked out the hotel and rushed outside, he handed the valet his ticket and waited impatiently for his vehicle. Scanning the busy street, his eyes caught a glimpse of her. She stood on the curd, back straight with head high as she waited for a cab. She looked regal and stunning.

Once thing settled with Lori maybe he could reconnect and make this work with her. Embarrassed, he suddenly remember he never got her name, he approached her slowly. Sensing him, she turned in his direction.

"Once again, I'm sorry about this… I-"

She smiled and his heart picked up pace, "It's okay. You have your Her and I have my Him. It's okay."

She said as if trying to convince herself along with him.

"Wait for me?"

She shook her head, "Her. Him. This is best."

"And what about are moment?"

"It passed."

Rick nodded his head and looked down to the ground before looking up at her, he stepped closer eyes scanning every feature of her face committing it to memory.

He tilted his head as a small smile played at the corner of his lips, "After last night and this morning… I'm embarrassed to say I never got your name… maybe we can exchange names and numbers."

A full smile crossed her lips, she closed the distance between them as Rick leaned down and instantly took her lips. The kiss was soft, sweet and slow, a remembrance of their first kiss. She pressed deeper into him and he deepened the kiss as their tongues briefly met. She pulled away all too quickly, stroke his cheek and smiled.

"I'll tell you my name when we get another moment," She said with a coy smile as she walked towards her awaiting cab.

"And if we don't?" Rick asked as she slipped into her cab.

"Hopefully, we will."

Rick watched as she closed the door, the cab gently pulled into the increasing traffic of the growing day. He hoped she was right, that hopefully they'll met again and things would be different.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello Readers! Thank you for following me on this journey. I'm super excited for the things to come with this tale. Hopefully, you all will like it as well. Also to set up the background of the scene, it is later on the same day Carl found the young boy in the tree. Carl is about thirteen during this time. Comments and reviews are always appreciated! Thank you so much for taking the time and reading. - *heart eyes* fithola**

 **New Addition L4yers**

 **(2 Years Ago – before the Present Day)**

Carl listened as his parents argued.

"You allowed him to go with you!"

"He said you gave him permission."

"He lied," Lori shouted.

He heard his father sigh heavily, "It's a moot point now, Lori."

Neither spoke for a moment, hidden behind a brush Carl anxiously awaited for the conversation to continue. His mother mumbled something but it was too low and Carl was too far to hear, his father response however was an audible curse followed by her name.

"I can't believe you gave him a gun! He could have been hurt."

Rick sighed loudly again, he could tell his father was getting upset and was trying to keep his anger in check. Carl had been listening to his parents argue for the past seven years, there was barely a time where he couldn't remember them fighting. There were happy memories in the middle of all the fighting but lately there had been nothing but anger, disdain, and fighting. Carl just wanted the fighting to stop. He wanted to go back to one of their happy memories, like that one day at the county-fair almost five years ago, but he knew they could never go back, especially in this new world where the dead didn't remain dead.

"He wasn't," Rick replied.

"But he could have been, Rick!"

"Carl has more gun training than most adults," his father replied. Carl could hear the wariness in his voice, it always followed after the anger. Carl heard the wariness more now than ever before.

"Carl is still a child! He could have been hurt!"

"In the world we live in he can be hurt by anythang, Lori. He has to learn to be safe. He has to learn to protect himself. He's a smart kid. I trust he'll make smart chooses, that is why I gave him that gun and he proved me right Lori!"

A wide smile bloom across Carl's face, to hear the pride in his father's words and voice caused his chest to swell proudly. At that moment he promises to never let his father down and to continue to make his father proud of him. There's more silence on the other side of the hedge of brushes. Carl leaned in closer to hear.

"And the boy?"

"Carl found him."

"So what are we going to do?" His mother asked.

"What are you staying Lori?"

"Rick…I'm just saying…"

"Lori, what are you saying?" Rick repeated. Lori doesn't speak, Carl assumed she was making that face of hers that was riddled with disapproval, allowing Rick to continued, "We just can't leave him."

"But another kid, Rick? What about his people? Where are his parents? What if they are alive? What if they are looking for him?"

"You didn't see that camp. That camp was all but destroyed. There was no one left and the ones there were dying or already dead."

"Rick, I don't… he's another person to protect… to feed… to-"

Carl couldn't listen to her excuses anymore he pushed through the brushes and stumbled into the clearing his parents were talking in.

"We are not going to leave him! He's a kid! And he's scared! And he's alone! We're NOT going to leave him."

Both of his parents turned in surprised to see their son.

"I told you to stay with the others! Why aren't you with the others?" Lori asked.

"I can't allow you to abandon him. I am not going to leave him!"

"This isn't you decision!" Lori replied.

"And it is not yours! We're not leaving him!"

Rick nodded, "Carl's right. We're not leaving him."

"Rick! Carl…" his mother started.

"I'll protect him! I'll watch over him! I'll share my food with him…"

"He's not a pet, Carl," his mom stated.

"I know… but we can't leave him. I won't let you. We have to protect him! What if it was me, mom? What if his mom found me? We're not leaving him! He's one of us now!" Carl exclaimed.

Rick walked over to Carl and wrapped his son in his arm. "We won't leave him, we'll protect him. You're right he's one of us now... he's a part of our family now."

XxXx0000000000000xXxX

"We takin' in strays now?" Daryl drawled as he flopped down next to Andrea; she sat among with Shane, Carol, and Sofia eating a meager meal by the camp fire. He took in the sight of the cooper skin boy with curly black hair and blue eyes flickering in the camp firelight huddled into Carl's side.

"Carl, found him."

"Where?"

"A camp that was overrun about an hour east from the city. The kid was hiding up a tree," Shane commented eating beans from a can.

"Smart kid," Daryl replied nodding in appreciation of the kid's self-preservation.

"Yea, smart kid." Shane grumbled.

"I'm surprised that a kid that young survived." Andrea remarked.

"If it wasn't for Carl, the kid wouldn't have survived long," Shane stated.

"He could've," Daryl mumbled.

"Against three walkers?" Shane scoffed.

Grumbling Daryl said, "Doesn't matter… he's here now."

"Is he staying with us?" Sofia asked.

"I think so baby," Carol answered kissing her daughter's forehead.

"Yea… another bastard to-"

"Shane!" Carol reprimand.

"I agree with Shane. He's just going to be another burden, at least Carl can run fast and is a decent shot but this little one… I don't know," Andrea said voicing her concerns.

Shane nodded his head, stuffing his mouth with beans before he spoke again, "At least I ain't the only one thinking clearly."

"He's just a kid practically a baby," Carol mumbled.

"A baby that's gonna get us all killed," Shane grumbled in response.

"Momma is the little boy going to kill us?" Sofia asked with worry swimming in her young eyes.

"No sweetie, he's not."

"Ain't nothing gonna happen to us," Daryl stated to Sofia before turning a pointed glare at Shane and Andrea, "And I ain't gonna let anything happen to him."

At Daryl's statement the group fell silent, eating in silence until Sofia spoke again: "Why does he have Carl's eyes?"

"The bastard does look familiar," Shane observed.

"Many people have blue eyes… you, Carol, Andrea… me…" Daryl muttered.

"Oh… ok… I guess you're right," Sofia said going back to her dinner of can peas and corn.

Eavesdropping Rick listened to their conversation, once the topic changed to their upcoming journey to Fort Benning Rick stopped listening to the gathered group and pushed his way out of the shadows of the tree. Daryl gave him a short nod, Shane grimaced at him while Andrea had the decency to look embarrassed for hinting at leaving the young child. Carol forced a smile at Rick before turning her attention to her daughter.

Rick took in the group before he walked towards the two young boys, watching as he approached them. The young boy huddled into Carl's side; they sat on the other side of the camp fire near Dale and Glenn, Carl handing the boy a meal of stale cereal and green beans.

The mysterious boy did look familiar and owned the same color eyes as Carl – as him. Rick hadn't heard the boy speak a word since his earlier arrival with Glenn, Carl and himself; he also hadn't left Carl's side either and cried when Carl left him with Glenn to eavesdrop on his and Lori's earlier conversation in the clearing. He shied away from everyone who tried to approach him beside Carl.

"Did he finally tell you his name?" Rick asked lowering himself to his haunches when he finally reached Carl and the young boy.

Carl shrugged his shoulder, "He hasn't really spoken. I think he's still scared. He said something about his momma and peanut."

"Peanut?" Rick asked incredulously.

"Yea, I think his mom called him Peanut or something like that."

Taking in the boy's feature Rick's mind went to her. He hadn't thought about her since before he woke up in that hospital to find the world had come to an end. He remembered fleeting dreams about her while he was in that coma. He used to wonder about her often before he got shot; he used to fantasize of the possibility of their future. He hadn't thought about her since before and now as he looked at the young boy he couldn't help thinking about her again. She flooded his senses as if she stood right next to him. He could hear her smooth dark voice. He could even smell her intoxicating scent of vanilla and almond. He closed his eyes against the onslaught of memories. Shaking off her memory, he opened his eyes once more and looked at the young boy then at Carl.

"So what have you been calling him?"

"Just been calling him little buddy…" Carl said with another shrug, "But I'm thinking about calling him PJ… at least until he tells me his name."

"PJ?"

"Yea, PJ… for Peanut Junior."

Rick chuckled at Carl's ingenious, "Why Junior? Why not just call him Peanut?"

"I sort of think he looks like a junior… don't you?" Carl asked his father but didn't wait for a reply, he shrugged again then added, "Plus calling him Peanut feels weird to me… I think is should stay special in honor of his mom."

"Hmmph," Rick mutters nodding, tilting his head and looking at the two kids, "PJ huh?"

"Yes PJ."

Rick nodded, before turning his attention back to the young boy. He moved closer and smiled warmly as possible before whispering hi.

"Its okay buddy, you remember my dad?" Carl encouraged, "Say hi."

The boy looked at Rick with wide eyes then at Carl and back at Rick. He waved before quickly turning away back into the protective shadow of Carl. The older boy shrugged at his father before handing the younger child more cereal. Rick smiled at the new addition to his family. He caressed Carl's cheek, gave the boy another wave before he stood. As he started away from the boys, he caught a glimpse of Lori's eyes upon him. He turned to look at her and tired to smile; her face deepened into a scowl as she rolled her eyes and turned away. Rick sighed, shook his head, and started his parameter watch.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello All! Your reviews of the last chapter were hilarious! I LOVED it! They gave me life and propelled me to update this story sooner rather than later.**

 **A note about the continuation of the story, the previous three chapters were all set in the past. The last chapter happened about two years ago, now we're getting into what's going on in the present day, which picks up right after Negan Lucille a member of Rick's group (season 6 finale). Since I do NOT OWN or KNOW what's going to happen on The Walking Dead everything that is going happen comes from the dark and loveliness of my imagination. Several chapters will be flashbacks to fill in the gaps of my rendition of how they got to the present. WARNING: Rated M for offensive language and some trigger talks.**

 **Ok... okay... enough talk... let's cannonball in! - fithola**

 **Enemy's L4yers (Present Day)**

A hush crawls over the gather individuals.

"Now, wasn't that fucking fun?" Negan says as he looks around the clearing, "That wasn't so fucking bad? I quite enjoyed myself but the fucking question of the hour is did y'all pee pee in y'all fucking pants?"

As if on cue his men chortle at his comments. He looks around the gather group, walking back and forth with Lucille dripping blood and brain matter from its barbed wires.

"Did anybody shit themselves?" He asks hopefully. He walks over to Maggie and leans closer to her before he sniffs the air around her, "You maybe? Or what about you?"

He points Lucille at Abraham, blood drips onto the ground from the weapon's tip as he taunts the man. His eyes falls to Rosita who cries silently, her shoulders trembling violently with her tears.

"You look like shit did you fucking defecate on yourself?" He asks moving towards Daryl, "No one? I must say I'm a little disappointed I was expecting someone to shit themselves or at the very fucking least for someone to piss! Fucking disappointments the lot of you!"

The tall rugged man walks to the front center of the group, shaking off his disappointment that no one in the group defecated or pissed on themselves. He makes a mental note not underestimate these fuckers, they were stronger than what he gave them credit for.

"Now to fucking business! Here's what's gonna fucking happen. Y'all motherfuckers gonna gather up y'alls dead, almost dead, mostly dead and return to y'all home. Maybe even have a funeral, I don't give a fuck but in a week… in seven days I am going to come and gather up half of my shit," Negan stops in front of Rick and lowers himself onto his haunches.

Rick raises his head to look up into the man's eyes, his own full of despair and hints of anger. He gives a subtle nod in understanding.

"A little less teeth when sucking my dick."

"Y-yea… we'll have your stuff."

"Better!" He replies standing. He signals his men to pack up and all at once the men starts to move like a swarm of insects.

Negan struts off but turns and returns to the kneeling group, "Almost forgot… as insurance I'm gonna take little Serial Killer here just to make sure y'all motherfuckers act accordingly."

Negan states snatching Carl up by his arms.

"NOOOO!" Rick roars as he leaps to his feet, he dives toward Negan but is immediately struck down by one of his men. Rick rolls away, stumbles to his feet, and lands a punch on the man before turning towards Negan once again. He leaps trying to attack the man but he's quickly subdue by two more men.

"I understand your outburst just losing your friend and shit, then me snatching up your one-eyed progeny. I fucking get it but we're ain't gonna have none of that. Do that shit one more motherfucking time and I fucking _will_ scoop the cyclops' motherfucking eye out and fucking feed it to you!"

"Please! Just let us go! We'll get your stuff… I… I swear! We'll get your stuff!" Rick pleads struggling against the two men who holds him down.

"Chap! Your son ain't gonna be fucking hurt unless you give me a fucking reason," Negan says.

"TAKE ME! I'll go! Just leave my son alone!" Ricks pleads.

Negan pauses at Rick's plead. He considers it for a brief moment.

"Nah… I like the one eye fucker!"

xXXx0000000000xXXx

Carl sits quietly riding in the back seat of the jeep with his head cover and his hands tied together. Without being notice, he tries to move the hood with his shoulder to get a better sense of where they're taking him. The car ride is boisterous as Negan's men talk about the event that just took place as if Negan hadn't beaten a man to death with a bat.

"Did y'all see that petite Mexican chick? She had some nice ass titties."

"Yea, wouldn't mind titty fucking her," the man next to him adds.

"She had some pretty lips too! I bet she can suck a mean cock."

Carl listens as they talk ill about Rosita, wanting to kill every man in the jeep along with Negan. Three men rides with him in the jeep but none are Negan; he saw the man hop into another car before his head was covered. After the men exhausts the list of sexual acts they want to do to Rosita they move on to another woman from his group, to another woman who's part of his family.

"What about that brunette."

"That bitch who looked like she was about to fucking die?"

"Yea her."

"Naw! Not that half dead bitch. I like my bitches alive, screaming and kicking, emphasis on the fucking screaming and kicking," the man says with a laugh.

"If Negan finds out you like to force woman-"

"He ain't gonna find out shit… now will he?" The man says forcefully. The jeep is quiet for a moment before another man speaks up.

"Shit… I'll be more concern about that black samurai bitch of his than Negan."

The man laughs. Carl memorize the man's voice and laughter. It sounds too high, almost like he's a woman with a squeaky undertone. Even if he wasn't talking about raping women, the voice grates on his nerves. Carl makes a promise to himself to kill the man.

"Fuck that nigger bitch! She ain't gonna do shit! And if she does… I'll take care of her too then I'll fuck her up that fat ass of hers."

The other laughs. Carl can tell it's a force tense laughter, he's been around adults enough to know when a laugh is fake and force. Tension grows in the jeep for several minutes but it's soon dissipates when the man sitting next to him starts again on the women from Alexandria.

"Y'all know who I'll fuck… that pretty blonde bitch with the blue eyes. She looked like an excellent dick rider!"

The round of laughter comes easily this time.

Carl figures they've been driving for about an hour and a half, no more than two when the jeep slows down significantly. He feels the driver navigate the jeep on uneven terrain then take several slow turns consecutively.

He closes his eye and focus on the sounds. A low rumble can be heard like the constant grind of machinery above the sound of the men talking and the jeep's engine. After a few more minutes the jeep comes to a complete stop. The sound of shouting and a heavy metal gates opening fills the air before the jeeps starts moving again, this time the distance is short. Carl feels the jeep uneasy navigation on gravel then another wide turn before coming to another stop and the engine shuts off.

The rush of the cool night air greets Carl before a hand snatches him out of the vehicle. Tripping at the unexpected move, he falls to the ground on his knees and catching himself with his bond hands. The same hand yanks him onto his feet, Carl stumbles as he tries to gain his balance.

"Easy with the fucking cargo!" a voice shouts, it belongs to Negan.

The hand immediately releases him and he almost trips again. A hand steadies him before the hood is yank from his head. He blinks several time trying to adjust his eyesight. Negan's face fill his sight.

"Welcome to the Sanctuary, kid."

Negan moves out his line of sight and waves at the building behind him. Carl looks up, the awe is lost upon him. He knows he supposed to be impress but the dark building looks like a metal machine tomb. Starting towards the building Negan gesture for Carl to follow him. Before entering the building he glances around the outside of the compound, trying to commit as much as possible to memory to relate to his dad, knowing that every piece of details he sees will come in handy.

Once inside, he refuses to show it but he's more impress with the inside of the place than the outside, the place looks like a fortress. The front of the first floor is bare of anyone and anything. In the center of the space the ceiling is open with a spiral staircase surrounding the opening, several floors of the building can be seem from his viewpoint. As they walk deeper into the building towards the staircase, dim flickering lights can be seen towards the back of the first floor. Carl focuses, they're tents and what looks to be living spaces are set up. A few people mill around the living area; when a person recognize Negan, they announce his presents.

"Negan's here!"

Everyone within eyesight falls to their knees before him. He chuckles, waves his hand and the people stand. He looks back at Carl winks before he starts up the spiral stairs.

On the second floor of the compound Negan leads Carl towards the front of the building again. As they round the open space of the second floor, Carl can see the appeal of the room. It appears to once have been a boardroom, now the walls were knocked out and makeshift into a balcony overlooking the empty first floor. The room is half full with people standing around talking amongst themselves. A boy with blonde hair and bright green eyes notice their approach first, upon seeing Negan a wide smile crosses his face before he shouts.

"Negan's here."

Everyone freezes and almost all at once they fall to their knees as he approaches them. He swaggers deeper into the room towards what looks to be a makeshift throne. One wall of the room is a large floor to ceiling window and overlooks what maybe the front entrance of the compound. Carl files the knowledge and the layout of the compound for later.

Negan along with Carl stands by the throne along with several men that were at the death gathering with him. The men all fall to one knee and bow before him, awaiting his instructions.

He looks down at Carl, smiles and winks, "Fucking respect!"

As more people enter the room they all kneel before him. Everyone kneels before Negan except for one person, a woman. Carl's eye goes and focuses upon her. She stands in the back of the room arms crossed and stares directly at Negan. She's not particularly tall yet commands his attention standing as if a giant with a sword strap to her back.

Negan waves his hand and tella everyone to rise, the people obey and stand to their feet. Only when everyone rise to their feet does the woman saunters forward moving as if liquid fire, dangerously captivating. Carl watches as the gather people part with ease at her approach giving her a wide berth, some even giving her a quick bow of their heads as she passes them.

Carl watches in surprise as Negan smiles wide at her approach.

"Now boy, this is... this is a real fucking woman who puts all other women to shame."

Taking her in, Carl notes her features; her skin the color of expensive specialty dark chocolate with dreadlocks framing her heart shape face. Carl's been well aware of women for several years but now at fifteen, a completely new awareness has settle upon him; he notes her exotic attractiveness and beauty. Even with the deep scowl etch onto her face it doesn't distract from her pretty face with her especially full lips. It is her eyes that captivates Carl, he sees the look of death that lives within her eyes but mostly it is the profound sadness that shakes him to his core. The woman reaches Negan and he steps toward her; she takes him in slowly before her eyes shift to him, her cold dark brown eyes pierce through him as if she can see his soul. Carl suppress a shiver that runs through him.

Reaching out to her, Negan pulls her into a tight embrace and places a kiss on her cheek before releasing her from the hug. He leaves an arm wrap around her waist, holding her close. The woman gives no reaction to the embrace; the look of indifference shrouds her entire body as if a second skin. Carl notes that the look of death only intensifies as she glares at him. Negan turns to Carl with the woman in his arms, he smiles wide and proudly.

"Serial Killer, met my Sammi."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: *waves wildly***

 **I am so sorry about for the long wait for this story. I swear I have not forgotten you. I just needed to work some things out in my head but now that I have them ironed out, I'll be updating this story a little more regularly (like at least once a week). I know you all have lots of questions and I promise you'll get your answers... just not yet. Hopefully you are all still with me. Thank you for commenting, reviewing, following and favoriting this story. It means a lot to me.**

 **Here's a quick recap: Approximately two years before this chapter, Carl finds a copper skinned boy with blue eyes similar to his own and his father hiding in a tree surrounded by walkers. Five years before that Rick and Michonne meet and share one steamy night together, any hopes to make the one night into something more is taken away when Rick is called home. Now in the present day, Negan Lucilled a member from the ASZ and has taken Carl as insurance in order to keep Rick in line... all caught up? Now where were we?**

 **A Guest's L4yers**

She hates when he calls her Sammi but she chooses to fight her battle with him wisely and a battle of what he chooses to call her is not at the top of her list.

Her attention from Negan is quickly stolen by the young boy who stands at his side.

 _Another pet?_ She thinks. She swiftly looks over the boy's appearance: dirty jeans, torn shirt, greasy long dark brown hair, brown sheriff's hat, a bandage face, and his… she pauses as his eye.

It's his eye. That one crystal blue orb, a peculiar shade of blue. His eye reminds her of a distance past. It reminds her of another lifetime. It reminds her of… she refuses to allow her mind to go there, to the memories she has safely and securely locked away.

She ignores the boy. She doesn't comment. She doesn't greet him. She doesn't pay him any attention.

She notices Lucille, Negan's prize weapon, dried blood and flesh melted into the barb wires.

"What did you do this time?"

Negan smirks removing his hand from her waist and steps back to his throne, "Handling fucking business."

"You should find another way."

"This way works."

"Until it doesn't."

Her eyes flickers to the boy again before she turns and leaves.

xXXx0000000000xXXx

A shiver runs through Carl as he watches the woman walk away. It is her eyes. Her eyes left him cold yet there was something oddly familiar about the woman, Sammi. Negan smacks his lips and shakes his head as he watches the woman walk away. Carl follows Negan's line of sight and it falls upon the woman's ass. Heat creeps into his cheek before he quickly looks away and takes in his surrounding again.

"A real woman… SK… now that's a real motherfucking woman," Negan says with an appreciating sigh before he flops down onto his makeshift throne.

After several people greet and talk with Negan, the boy with blonde hair and bright green eyes pushes his way to front and grains Negan's attention. Carl quickly assess he's only a couple of years older than him. The boy is several inches taller than him but he's slim making them about the same build.

"Austin!" Negan says in greeting, the boy's large smile shows his molars at the sound of his name, "How was it at that fat fucks place?"

"All went well Boss!" He beams in response before diving in with a status report. Carl finds his eagerness to please Negan appalling and sad but most importantly Carl inhales the information about this mysterious community, it doesn't sound like Hilltop and Carl knows it is not Alexandria.

"We did have some trouble wit-"

Negan holds up his hand.

"Aussie! Normally I love the rim job you give my ass but it's too late for this fucking shit! Save it for tomorrow, kid. My ass will need that sweet lips of yours!"

He nods then shifts his eye to Carl, who gladly glares back at the kid. Negan chuckles at the silent standoff.

"Who's this fucking kid?"

"A guest… clear these fuckers out of here, tell Timmy to bring his gimp ass in here and get my women."

Once the command is given the entire room is clear within a few minutes, only a few of Negan's men remain. There are five in total, Carl surmises these are Negan's top men, his inner circle. Carl tries to note each of the men. He tries to memorize their voices and their faces, knowing these are the men that him and his father will need to kill. They talk logistics of the night's event for several minutes before they too clear the room.

"So what do you think?"

It takes a few seconds for Carl to realize Negan is talking to him. He turns to face him but doesn't say anything.

"Impressive huh? I can't tell all this shit is making your tiny dick hard. You're in fucking awe… fuck I'll be too if I saw all this shit. It is fucking impressive," Negan comments with a laugh.

Carl doesn't have a chance to respond as an extremely thin boy with half his face burned off limps into the room. His shoulders are slumped in and he looks as if he could be knocked down by a light breeze.

"Timmy!" Negan shouts. At the sound of his name the little boy leaps in fear before dropping to his knee.

"Come on now!" Negan says signaling the boy to rise.

As the boy struggles to his rise to his feet a line of scantily clad women saunters into the throne room. It's a coalition of women, ranging from different ethnicity and build but all the women are fairly young, early twenties possibly late teens and are all beautiful. Carl's eye take in the swell of breast, expose legs, arms and mid-section. The women reminds him of the Playboy magazine once found on a run and now is hidden in his room. He counts seven women in total, their faces fully covered with make-up and their hair curled or piled high on their heads. They coo and sing their hellos to Negan. Some smile widely, their eyes lighting up with the gesture while others hold a tense smile that strain their pretty face.

Negan rises to his feet and greets the women with a board smile, his eyes darkening as he takes in the women in front of him.

"Timmy get Serial Killer settle for the night. I got _fucking_ business to take care of," Negan laughs at his play on words immediately forgetting about Carl as all of his attention shifts onto the women.

Carl looks away from Negan to Timmy, who silently beckons him out of the room. He follows after the limping boy, before he leaves the room he turns to see Negan touching one woman's breast while kissing another. A third woman press herself against him as a fourth rubs his arms, the women surrounds him with moans and pleas for attention. A mixture of awe and disgust swells inside of Carl as he takes in the scene before being led away.

His plan to overpower the frail boy, Timmy, and make a run for it is quickly distinguish when a tall thick body man with no-neck falls in step behind them as soon as the reach the stairs. Carl falls back to his plan to take in as much of the compound as possible to relay the information to his dad. He feels No-neck's eyes bore into his back while Timmy steals glances of him from over his shoulder curiously regarding him. Carl ignores them both as he mentally maps the Sanctuary.

Timmy leads Carl to an office converted into a bedroom on the fourth floor. A full size bed and a dresser are the only thing that occupies the room. Timmy directs Carl inside the room before he shuts and locks the door from the outside never speaking a word.

xXXx00000xXXx

Carl doesn't sleep. He spends the night tearing the room apart trying to fashion weapons from scraps like his father and the others did when they were locked in the streetcar in Terminus. Using the springs from within the mattress, he straightens the springs then sharpens them against each other and along the floorboards. He then tears a piece of the bed sheets and binds the sharpen metal together making a short shiv.

The makeshift weapon will only work in close quarters and against soft flesh. Carl knows the only way to take a person down with his weapon will be to go for the neck or eyes. He steels his nerves hoping he won't hesitate when the time comes to act. After his weapon is made, he returns the room to its previous state making sure nothing is out of place in order so not to alarm anyone of his weapon. Once the room is straighten, he sits on the floor facing the door with his weapon clutch in hand. He closes his eyes to replay every step he took and the layout of the Sanctuary.

It is mid-morning when he hears the distinct shuffle of Timmy approaching his door. Hearing the jingle of keys, Carl hides his weapon as the door swings open. Wordlessly Timmy beckons Carl to follow him. He stiffly moves to his feet and follows after the young boy.

With another guard a step behind them, Timmy leads him to a locker room to shower and hands him a change of clothes. Careful to keep his makeshift knife hidden, he slips the shiv in his shoes as he undress. He takes a quick shower and dresses in the clothes given to him, the jeans are too long as is the shirt but Carl is thankful to be in clean and in fresh clothes.

At breakfast Carl leaves his plate untouched. His stomach growls in protest but he refuses to eat the food provided by Negan. The food that Negan has stolen from other people. He sits near a table that's place on a platform above the others, several of Negan's men sit at the raised table even though the man himself is not present for breakfast. Carl watches the people of the Sanctuary; noting most of the members are men with a few women, teenagers, and elderly scatter around the cafeteria.

Carl feels her presents before he sees her, a cold shiver runs down his shine before she comes into view. She's dress in tight jeans, studded boots, a tank top that shows a small amount of cleavage and a tan sleeveless vest with her sword strap to her back. Carl feels a blush creeps up his neck as he takes her in. He can't seem to shake off the familiar feeling he gets from her; her beauty is also not lost upon him.

People don't drop to their knees like they do with Negan but she commands their respect and receives head nods as she passes. She ignores the recognition. Carl notices several men from the raised table scowl down at her. After she grabs a plate of food, Carl expects her to sit at the raised table with Negan's other lieutenants but she takes a seat at a table across the room with a short hunched back elderly woman. Once seated her cold dark brown eyes find his and cuts into him. He feels expose at her gaze.

Turning his head from her emotionless glare, Carl watches as a group of skimpily dress women walk into the cafeteria. He immediately recognizes several from the night before, the women Negan was kissing and groping. The women are dress in short-shorts, mini-skirts, tight fitting dresses, and tank-tops; their clothing revealing ample skin and leaving nothing to the imagination. Many of the women wear heels and have their faces caked with make-up and their hair stiffly done.

He counts five women in total, noticing a couple are missing from the previous night. The women grab their plate and sashay towards the raised table; the group take their place at an adjacent tables.

Carl notes the scowls from Negan's lieutenants at Sammi; he also notes hateful and angry glares the women throw at Sammi. He doesn't know who this woman is but he knows she's important; not to kneel to Negan, to collect scornful looks from his men, hateful looks from his women, and respect from his people.

XxXx00000xXxX

She feels their resentful eyes on her. She hears their curses against her. She ignores it. She sees the others' reverent nods to her. Her ears pushes against the whisper of worship as she passes. She ignores the look of wonderment as well as animosity, she's familiar with both looks, she unmoved by both.

She arrives at the table with Miss Edna, she give the woman a respectful nod and the woman gives her an unimpress glare. She almost smiles, that's is as nice Miss Edna will ever get. Once seated, she slowly starts on her late breakfast she glances up to see Jose and the young guest eating together, actually Jose eats while the young boy glares at his food as if he's offended with the meal.

She dreamt of the young boy's eye. She dreamt about _his eyes_. When the dream morphed from the young boy's eye to _his eyes_ , she tore herself from her sleep knowing what was to follow. What always followed when she dreamt of _his eyes_ , the dream always changed into a nightmare that left her gasping for air. She woke herself up not allowing her dream to shift into memories she locked away. Unable to return to sleep, she walked the outside of the compound killing any dead she happened upon, only returning to her room to shower and dress before deciding to get some breakfast.

The clicks on the heels cut into her thoughts. She groan inwardly in annoyance at the group that comes with the clicks of the heels. The senseless chatter sweeps across the room as the group of women enter the cafeteria. She ignores them as she eats her meal; once they collect their meal, the women sit at an adjacent table in front of Negan's raised table of honor.

Their eyes bore into her flesh, branding her with their sneers and hate; she hears the soft whisper of their voices ringing against her ears. She ignores them as well, instead she looks up and she immediately knows Jose and Negan's newest pet are talking about her.

This piques her interest, she watches as Jose steals quick glances as he leans into the boy, his lips move quickly with his hand follows just as fast trying to keep up the boy's. The young boy listen intently, also stealing glances and nodding his head at Jose. Her face fall into a deep grimace, making a mental note to speak with Jose about his loose lips.

XxXx00000xXxX

He clears his throat and turns to Timmy who sits hunch over his plate devouring his food as if he doesn't ever get a chance to eat. Carl is determine not to speak but his curiosity about the woman, Sammi, with her ever present sword strap to her back eats at his resolve.

"Who is she?"

Timmy stops eating and looks up to Carl, "Who?"

He's startle by Timmy's deep voice, its unexpected coming from his slight frame. Shaking off his surprise he discreetly nods towards the woman, Sammie.

"Sammi, who is she?" He whispers.

His eyes goes wide, he sit straights up and looks at the woman before he remembers himself and looks away shaking his head vehemently. He leans over to Carl and harshly whispers.

"Oh… no! No! Don't call her that!"

"Sammi?" Carl whispers in return.

"Yes! Do not call her that! That's not her name! No one calls her that and if she hears you…" Timmy trails off. He sneaks a peak at the woman before snatching his eyes away from her and pinning them back onto Carl.

"My name is not Timmy. It is actually Jose. Negan just likes to give people nicknames. He calls me Timmy because of my leg, he calls me a cripple… you know like Tiny Tim from the Christmas Carol story?" He asks but doesn't wait for Carl to answer before continuing on, "Since Negan calls me Timmy so does everybody else, only a few people know my name is Jose. I don't mind because it just a name, you know. I could be called worse. Actually thinking about now, I have been called worse much worse but Timmy is not too bad. Plus I'm used to it, sometimes when people call me Jose, I don't answer because I'm so use to being called Timmy. It is not like I do not know my real name, I do it is just that I am use to hearing Timmy."

"And Sammi?" Carl prompts Timmy… Jose to get back to the subject at hand.

"Oh… yea. Sammi. You saw the sword, right? She never goes anywhere without that sword, it's always on her back, in her hand or a few feet away. Anyways when she first got here she didn't talk. Kind of like you but she didn't speak for like a month. She didn't say a word, let alone her name; people thought she was a mute. No one knew what to call her, since she didn't tell anyone her name and she wasn't offering... people started to call her the samurai chick or simply the samurai. Negan shorten it to Sammi. Now Negan is the only one who still calls her Sammi. Sometimes you'll hear people call her that but never to her face. No one here is crazy enough to call her Sammi to her face. She gave the last guy who called her Sammi, two black eyes, a broken nose, and knocked out three of his teeth."

Carl refrains from his eye from rolling in annoyance at Jose's long winded speech: "Her name? What is her name?"

"Michonne. Her real name is Michonne."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hiya! We are still at the Sanctuary with Negan, Carl, and Michonne. I know... I know... we all want Michonne and Rick to finally meet up again but these scenes need to happen to build the framework of what is to come later. Thank you for reading, favoriting, following, and commenting! I appreciate ALL OF IT! :)**

* * *

 **Escaping L4yers**

In the room he's given, Carl dry heaves into the empty dresser drawer yet nothing comes out but wads of spit. He hasn't eaten in over two days. He feels his stomach crumbles upon himself in gnawing pain. Carl fights the pain and stands as he steels his nerves for the tasks ahead. It's the middle of his second night at Negan's compound and he's determine to escape from the hell known as the Sanctuary.

Inhaling one last time, Carl throws the drawer against the wall near the open window. The drawer crashes and breaks apart; several large chucks falling to the floor. He hears the shuffle of his guard outside his room, a few seconds later the door is unlock and swings open as his guard steps in.

"What the hell?" the man says as he takes in the appearing empty room and the open window. As he raises the radio to his mouth, Carl leaps off the dresser he position behind the door, taking the man by surprise. He covers the guard's mouth as he drives his makeshift knife into the man's neck. The man thrashes wildly reaching for Carl, he removes the shiv from the man's flesh and quickly drives it into his neck again. The man screams and cries for help are muffle by Carl's hand. The man slams himself against the wall, crushing Carl between the wall and his body. The move knocks the air from Carl's lung and causes him to become dizzy as shots of adrenaline pulses through him. He tightens his hold and pulls the shiv from the man's neck and drive it into the gaping flesh.

The guard is average height and a medium build unlike the guard from earlier who was all muscle and had no neck. He's thankful for the change of guards, knowing his plan will have been harder to execute if the guard was bigger. Carl grunts as the man slams him against the wall again, he slips slightly but continues to plunge the makeshift knife into the man's flesh repeatedly until the man stop his thrashing and falls to his knees. Carl doesn't stop until the man crumbles to the floor and he's covered in blood.

Certain the man is dead, he takes a moment to catch his breath, the tasks made difficult with the adrenaline pumping through his veins and his wild beating heart. He collects the dead man's weapon; a long Bowie knife, a 9mm with an extra clip in the pocket of his cargo pants, and his rifle. Carl slips the shiv into his boots again, places the knife in his belt loop, and the 9mm at the small of his back with the extra clip in his pocket. He grabs the man's radio and checks the chamber of the rifle before he makes his way to the door.

Taking another moment to calm his breathing, he waits and listens. If anyone else heard the crush and scuffle they would be at his door already; Carl waits several more beats of his erratic heart before stepping into the hallway. It's the dead of the night and the hall is empty, Carl figures it is at least one maybe two o'clock in the morning.

After checking the hallway is clear, he slips into the open space pressing himself against the wall and holds up the rifle ready to shoot anyone on sight. He leaves the door to his room slightly open, hoping to use the man once he turns as a distraction. Using the map he drew in his mind, Carl slowly navigates the hallway. He's in the heart of the compound and there's not many guards inside but he knows he'll have to be more careful once he's outside the building.

Carl is sure the sound of his heart beating will be what gets him caught. The sound of his racing heart beats loudly in his ears, it drowns the other sound of the night. Sticking to the shadows, he makes his way to the first floor and is able to slip outside of the building. He crawls along the shadows of the building hoping to reach the rear east side of the compound before it's discover he's missing. Earlier in the day as Negan gave him another tour of the Sanctuary, Carl noticed the slight gap in the gate partially hidden by a dying bush. He knew if he could get to the opening he would be able to escape the Sanctuary and return home to his family. He wasn't planning to make his escape so soon, he wanted to learn more about Negan and his people before he did but he had to change his plans.

As he creeps against the shadows of the building he thinks back on the conversation that caused him to take action so quickly:

 _"_ _This kid knows too much!"_

 _"_ _Negan's been showing him around."_

 _"_ _Yea but that little gimp fucker has been running his mouth too."_

 _He steps out from the restroom, before he turns the corner he hears the group of men talking and immediately knows they're speaking about him. Carl recognizes the voices; they belong to Rob one of Negan's lieutenants, Austin, and Fred, the man with the high pitch voice who was talking about doing ill things to the women of Alexandria._

 _"_ _We need to get rid of the little shit," Fred speaks._

 _"_ _How? By Killing him? Negan will know something is up and he's not going to be happy."_

 _"_ _Fred's right, we need to kill him. His people slaughtered ours at that outpost. Killed my brother and yours, Rob. I bet they're the same fuckers who blow up your dad on that road, Austin. Killed my girlfriend too. We need to even the score."_

 _Carl notes the new voice to the mix, he tries to place who the voice belongs to but can't. It must be one of the more quieter men who surrounds Negan._

 _"_ _Negan Lucilled one of their men."_

 _"_ _That ain't enough!" Fred spats._

 _"_ _They killed thirty of our people! They killed your father, Austin!"_

 _Austin hesitates but says, "_ _We can make it look like an accident."_

 _"_ _Negan will be pissed but he ain't gonna be too mad if it looks an accident," Fred says._

 _"_ _Maybe we can make it look like the boy killed himself," Offers Rob._

 _"_ _Gotta do it soon, though. Negan talking about heading out to Alexandria a day or two early," the mysterious man comments._

 _"_ _Make it look like he hung himself or some shit," Austin adds._

 _"_ _I don't fuckin' care. As long as the little shit dies," the mysterious man laments._

 _"_ _Yea… that may work…" Rob's words fade away as soon as he feels her presence. He whirls on his heel and turns to see her standing behind him coolly watching him in. She doesn't alert the others of his present, she only stares at him. Carl backs away slipping back into the restroom, his eye lock onto Michonne's. He stays in the restroom formulating a plan of escaping until Timmy comes and finds him on the demand of Negan._

The sound of a distance scream pulls him from his thoughts. It causes him to pause for a moment before quickening his steps. When the radio at his hip crackles with static, he comes to a stop and crouch down. Pulling the radio from his hip, he lowers the volume and listens at the frantic voices on the other end.

"George turned… He attacked Ted!"

"Fuck!"

"Doug was in… the… he got bit."

"Whe-where the fuck is the kid?"

"The… kid…"

The radio crackles and breaks off as too many people try to speak into the device as at once. Negan's men are talking over each other, cutting each other off. There is a panic inside the Sanctuary. Carl takes advantage of the confusion and starts to sprint towards his exit, the radio chirp and he knows they are aware of his plans of escape.

"He's trying to make a break for it!"

"Check the parameter."

Instantly lights flood the outside of the compound. He doubles his efforts and race towards the rear of the building, towards the opening at the fence.

"HEY! STOP!" a voice from behind him calls out. He whips around, focus his eye, exhale and fires several shot at the man's chest. The man goes down instantly. Another man with a raise gun steps into his line of sight and Carl fires without a thought. Hearing the sound of gunfire, Carl leaps behind several barrels in the yard of the compound.

He uses them for cover waiting for a break in the gunfire; once the break comes Carl stands slightly over the barrels to fire his rifle at the shooters. Over the sound of blood rushing in his veins and the loud thumps of his heart, he hears one man cry out in pain and the crackle of the radio.

He crouch down behind the barrel and tries to inhale deep breaths, he finds breathing difficult as adrenaline seizes him. He wonders how his father manages to stay clam in situations like this. Glancing to his right he sees a line of several vehicles, he recently learned how to drive and Daryl thought him how to hotwire a car. There is barely any coverage in the direction of the cars. He glances to his left, he's closer to the fence and the bush that hides the opening. There was more barrels and a few trees that can provide him cover. He knows a car will be the fastest way to escape the sanctuary but he also knows he'll be able to lose them in the woods if he goes on foot.

Carl inhales as deep as his lungs will allow as the second break comes from the gunfire. He runs towards the fence using the barrels as cover. A bullet wiz by him, he spins and fires his gun in the direction of the shot. He sees two men running at him, guns raise high. Carl fires again one man goes down mid-run; he pulls the trigger again and the rifles clicks. He's out of bullets.

The man approaches Carl with his gun aim at his head and a sneer on his lips, Carl allows the rifle to slip through his grasp.

"You done fuc-"

He doesn't finish as Carl swings the rifle at the man's temple like a baseball bat. The man spins from the force of the blow and falls in a haphazard heap. Carl turns to run off towards the fence as he picks up strides he's tackle hard into the unyeilding ground. The air from his lung wooshes out in a hard puff. Carl rolls over and tries to crawl away when he locks eyes with one of Austin's goons, who along with Austin harassed him at every opportunity throughout the day and evening when Negan wasn't around.

The boy delivers several punches to his face, he tries to counter but the kid has at least fifty pounds on him. Carl tries to move away from him, until he finally remembers his other weapons. He reaches for the gun at small of his back. As he pulls it out, the kid knocks it out his hand and delivers another hard punch to his jaw.

Carl twists beneath the boy as the two scurry after the weapon, the boy reaches the gun first. He takes off the safety, puts his finger on the trigger and turns to face Carl as he does so Carl slides the bowie knife across the boy's neck silencing him forever. He scrambles away from the boy before he can collapse upon him. Carl stumbles to his feet and runs to the opening when a bullet makes an impact with the ground less than a foot from him.

"STOP!"

Carl freezes mid-stride. He turns around and comes face to face with Chad, the younger brother to one of Negan's volatile lieutenant, Conner.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you!"

Carl puts his hands up, he doesn't trust himself to speak.

"Your people killed my baby brother and my best friend at that fucking outpost. Y'all slaughtered them. If that wasn't enough you burned my girlfriend alive."

Carl stares into the rage burning in the man's eyes, he recognize the hurt in the voice from earlier. The mysterious man who was adamant to kill him.

"This isn't how we planned it, we didn't want anyone to get _caught pulling the trigger._ We wanted to wait another night or two before you had an _accident_ … or before _you killed yourself_. We didn't quite decide how to do it… I just want you to suffer, like my girlfriend did. Negan's gonna be pissed, I may even get ironed but fuck it because you… you don't get to fucking live."

Chad pulls the trigger at the same moment Carl leaps to the ground and rolls by a nearby bush, it won't protect him from the bullets but it'll give him some coverage. He waits for another shot but it doesn't come. He chances a look and sees her slowly pulling her katana from Chad's torso.

It is Michonne. Eye wide Carl watches as Michonne's dark eyes flicker to him; she snaps her wrist and flicks the blood from her sword. He stumbles back and crawling away from her.

"Don't." She speaks and he freezes.

They stare at each other and Carl can't help think of his little brother and how he looks at him defiantly when he doesn't want to listen to Carl's instruction. It is not the color of her eyes that reminds Carl of his kid brother, it is the shape of the eyes, the spark of intensity and the way her brows knit just slightly together. His eye moves to look behind her, to the man who he hit with the butt of his rifle as he stumbles to his feet. The man starts toward Michonne, sneering at her as lifts his gun at Carl.

"You stopped him," the man starts, "About fucking time you did som-"

Carl eyes goes wide as the man doesn't get to finish. Michonne spins with her blade extended slicing the man's throat open. The man's head tilts back, an artery explodes and blood gushes out spraying the air with a fountain of blood before he falls. She takes a steps out of the spray of blood towards Carl; a part of him wants to turn and run away but he slowly stands to his feet. He straightens and stands tall before he rolls his shoulder back, raises his head defiantly, and looks into her eye. She tilts her head to the side and surprises him with a smirk.

Carl knows his moment to escape is lost when several of Negan's men runs up upon them. Conner notices his brother's body seeping blood into the ground. The man falls to his knees, picks up and clutches the dead body against his chest as he roars with pain and anger at his loss. When he opens his eyes he notices Carl, he pulls his gun on the young boy, aiming at his head.

"You fucking bastard!"

"Enough!" Negan calls out as he walks onto the scene.

"This fucking bastard killed my brother."

"He didn't. I did," Michonne admits calmly returning her sword to her sheath and facing an enrage Conner.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Conner shouts whipping his gun onto Michonne.

"He was going to kill me!" Carl yells as he scrambles to her.

She looks completely unbothered by the entire event, almost on the edge of boredom.

"He was going to kill me. Him and the others," Carl starts, the lie sprouts from a fraction of the truth, "They came to my room to grab me… I surprised them by fighting and stabbing the one of them… they dragged here…they wanted to kill me for what happened at the two outposts."

"YOU FUCKING LYING BASTARD!" Conner yells spinning to Carl with his gun extended. "They wouldn't go against Negan's orders!"

"Put your fucking gun down," Negan says calmly, "The kid stays alive."

"FINE! THEN I'LL SHOOT HER! SHE DESERVES TO DIE!" Conner moves to shot Michonne.

"Put. Your. Fucking. Gun. Down!" Negan says again, this time anger seeping into each word. Michonne takes a step towards Conner, daring him to shoot. She's calm and looks as if she's ready to embrace death. Conner snarls at her before he obeys the order. Before anyone else can move or speak, Negan is upon the man delivering several closed fist blows to his face and gut. Conner crumples to the floor holding onto his side.

"Next time I have to motherfucking repeat myself to you, you will be eating a motherfucking bullet."

Carl watches as Negan turns and looks at Michonne, a silent conversation passes between them before he speaks again.

"Is what the boy say is true?"

Her eyes travel to Conner before locking upon Negan's hazel hue. Her eyes comes to Carl's eyes, he doesn't know what all she heard in the hallway. She had a chance to kill him but she didn't, he silently pleads with her. Her dark brown eyes moves off of his and turns to Negan.

"Yes," She simply answers.

Carl breathes a sigh of relief. Negan's shoulders relax a fractions. He pulls out his own gun and fires a single shot into Chad's head as he starts to reanimate.

"Clean this shit up."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Last week around this time... maybe Tuesday night. I had this chapter all ready to go and everything. When I went to go save it... guess what happened... yup you guessed it... I lost most of the work I did. I cussed. I screamed. I think I even cried (ok, I didn't but I cussed some more). So I had to go back and redo major chucks to the story. So it is not exactly how I wanted it, hopefully you all still like it. Saying all of that... I am sorry about the wait! Hopefully you all are still with me.**

 **Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. I read everyone's review and it gives me LIFE, y'all. It truly does! Thanks again! Hope you all enjoy! - fithola**

* * *

 **L4yers of Threats & Kindness**

Eight of his men are dead. Negan's anger boils and churns into a slow wild rage at the thought of losing eight more of his men. Shifting his eyes, Negan takes in the boy responsible for the death of six of the eight men. He's not much to look at, he's skinny and average height. Negan guess the kid is no more than fourteen years old, maybe even fifteen. He still has yet to learn the kid's name, affectionately calling him Serial Killer and after killing six of his men the name fits him perfectly.

He looks into the boy's blue eye and he defiantly returns a glare at him. The bandage covering half his face and right eye only adds to the dangerous appeal of the boy.

"Take it off."

He scowls, a confused expression fitting across his face.

"Your bandage, take it off!"

The boy's face tightens in anger. He remains still.

"I will fucking cut off one finger at a time until you take off that fucking bandage."

He still doesn't move, his lips peel back in a silent snarl but he doesn't speak.

"You want to do this the hard way? Al'right asshole, I'll gather my men and take you home where you can watch as I kill every motherfucking body in that goddamn forsaken shithole you call home. You'll watch as I burn every fucking house down then line up all the motherfuckers who live there. I'll Lucille them one by one until every last man, woman, and child are fucking laying at your fucking feet with their skull bashed in. And it will be all your fucking fault because you're a little stubborn shit and when the last fucking bastard child is dead, I will rip off that bandage from your smug motherfucking face."

Negan watches as his threat takes root inside the young kid's head. They are in his private suite, which was once an executive suite with its own private shower that Negan converted into his inner sanctuary. He sits at a table by the floor to ceiling window as the young boy stands a few feet away from him.

"Fine, have it your way asshole!" Negan says as he rises to his feet.

"Wait!" the young serial killer says.

"Huh? What was that?" He taunts turning to face him.

The boy doesn't say anything else, instead he reaches up to the bandage and starts to unwrap it. He removes the bandages and lifts his head to face Negan.

"What happened?" Negan asks as he draws closer to examine the wound.

"I was shot."

"Holy shit! The fucker took half your face."

Serial Killer doesn't speak, his eye wonder off focusing on something behind Negan's shoulder. He approaches the young kid slowly in awe of the mostly healed gaping wound. The boy shifts slightly away from his approach, jaw locked in anger and hands balled into white knuckle fists.

"Shit SK, I really hope you killed the motherfucker who did this. He really fucked you up."

He doesn't speak, his blue eyes hardens and he trembles slightly from what Negan can only assume is silent rage. Lowering himself onto his haunches in front of the boy, Negan leans in closer to better examine the wound.

"Fucking shit, man! No wonder you cover that shit up, you look disgusting. Have you seen it? I mean you looked in a mirror, right? I wouldn't blame you if you hadn't. It's fucking gross. You'll never get pussy now, unless you get an eye patch. Bitches love motherfuckers with eye patches," Negan says enthrall by the kid's wound. "I can see your fucking eye socket…your goddamn skull is exposed. Shit! I want to touch it. Can I tou-"

"Negan," she calls out softly. His eyes shoots up to her, she stands looking disapproving at him, his eyes drop back to the kid. One wide blue eye stares at him as tears roll down his cheek.

"Oh damn, holy shit… I didn't mean to…" Negan trails off. The image of the fearless badass fading away as he realize, he's just a kid. He wipes at his face as he looks away from Negan. "Maybe you're not the serial killer I thought you were."

XxXx00000xXxX

"Negan," She says again.

Carl knows it is her as soon as she calls out Negan's name. Speaking only his name the reprimand is soft but effective; Negan looks fluster and disappointed. Hearing the shuffle of more footsteps Carl glances up to see several people stepping into the room. Several of Negan's lieutenant, a couple of his wives, and Michonne gather at the entry way of the suite. When Carl peers up he sees the various looks of disgust, pity, and terror covering their faces; he drops his head before his eye reaches Michonne. He's unable to look up at her, not wanting to see what her dark brown eyes holds for him.

"Sorry," Negan mumbles before he abruptly stands to his feet and starts away from him.

"Get his ass settle for the night," He barks to someone before leaving the room.

With shaky hands Carl starts bandaging his eye again trying to ignore the soft whispers at the doorway. As he struggles with the process, he senses her presence near him; she reaches out to help him but he knocks her hand away not wanting her sympathy. Michonne steps back, he feels her eyes silently watching him struggle with the bandage. Haphazardly the bandage covers his face and eye, he knows he can do a better job but Carl stops fussing with it suddenly feeling tired and defeated.

"Come," She says.

He glances up at her but avoids her eyes and without a second thought he follows after her. Michonne leads him through the Sanctuary; the night event of gunfire and shouting woke up the community but he notices many people were starting to settle in for the night again. Carl figures it is about two in the morning, if not later.

Michonne leads him to the living spaces in the back of the Sanctuary where the elderly and those with few points resides. She stops at a section corner of the area, knocks on the makeshift wall before pushing into the room with Carl following a step behind. An older woman stands to her feet, she frowns and grumbles at Michonne's appearance before scowling at him.

"Miss Edna will get your cuts and bruises cleaned up. She'll also change you bandage," Michonne says before she leaves. Carl wants to refuse but the weariness he feels weighs down upon him creeping into his bones and crawling into his flesh.

The older woman, Miss Edna ushers him to sit as she starts working on his cuts. Carl allows her to touch him even the bandage covering his eyes; neither speak as the woman's nimble hands does quick work. Miss Enda's gray hair is pull back into a tight bun pile on top of her head adding several inches to her short height. Her toffee skin sags and she looks to be a least a hundred years old with a scowl etch so deep upon her face it looks to be permanent. Watching her shuffle within her small space, Carl wonders how she survived this long.

Carl guesses Michonne is gone for about ten minutes before she returns. When she does it is the same moment Miss Edna finishes wrapping his bandage. Michonne thanks the woman speaking softly to her in a language he can't understand. Remembering his manners Carl thanks the woman as well, she only grumbles and scowls at him before they leave the woman's home.

Silently he's led back through the compound and up several flights of stairs. His tired mind continues to draw a map of the Sanctuary, knowing the information will be useful to his dad and the others. He quickly recognize the living area consisting of different rooms and suites; Carl now knows this designated area belongs to important people in Negan's community. His lieutenants, wives, and other Saviors who have enough points to earn a nice living spaces.

Michonne stops at a door a floor below Negan's own private quarters. She pushes open the door and ushers him in. The room is large and looks to be another executive suite, not as large as Negan's but nice all the same. A large queen size bed stack with pillow, a dresser and a night stand takes up one half of the room. The other half is a couch, a small coffee table and a desk near a large window. Carl assumes it's another empty guest room until he steps deeper into the space. Along the wall in front of the couch there are several bookshelves brimming with books. It is the only thing that hints that the room belongs to someone. The realization comes slow, this is Michonne's room.

"Here."

Carl finally looks up at her and stares into Michonne's eyes. He expects to see disgust, sadness, anger, or pity yet he finds no traces in her dark brown eyes. Instead she sees him, all of him before the gun shot but not as a child that needs protecting like his father sees. The darkness in her eyes soften by the concern for him, it surprises and shakes him to his core. The woman whose dark eyes normally lacks any hints of humanity, looks at him with concern. Taken aback his eyes drop to her out stretch hand. It is a stack of clean clothes.

"The bathroom is over there. Shower, I'll be back."

She points to a door near the bed and hands him the clean clothes before she leaves the room again. Carl numbly follows her instructions. Twenty minutes later he emerges from her bathroom, showered and in clean clothes. Curiosity moves him around the room, searching for anything that will clue him in to who this woman is but there's no knickknacks, trinkets, or personal items that reveals the woman's secrets. He only finds clothes consisting of mostly tank tops and jeans. When his search yields nothing, he makes his way to the bookshelves overflowing with books.

He picks up several and notices the wide assortment, ranging from P.H Lovecraft, Jane Austen, several versions of the bible, a Torah, Dr. Seuss, a Quran, Sun Tzu, a large collection of comic books, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, Tom Clancy, an entire collection of an encyclopedia and many other books. Carl wonders if she reads them all or if she just collects them when she goes on runs. He notices _Le Petit Prince_ a book his dad once found on a run and gave to Dre. His little brother adored the book and for a month straight he had to read the book before kid would go to sleep. He smiles at the thought of his family as his heart clenches in longing. He misses them and hopes they are okay, that his father is okay.

The door pushes open and Michonne steps into the room closing the door behind her. Carl moves away from the bookshelves towards her. She jesters to the couch and Carl sits; Michonne places a plate of food and two bottles of water on the table before she takes a seat at the edge of the couch.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Carl asks. He half expects her not to answer but she surprise him when she does.

"I'm still trying to figure it out."

It's not the answer he's looking for but he accepts it anyways, like he accepts her unexpected kindness.

"You didn't have to save me."

Carl's not talking about what happened with Negan; he will not allow himself to talk about that and the light in her eyes tell him she understands both.

"I know," She replies softly. She's quiet for a moment before she adds, "But they would have killed you."

"I'm not afraid to die."

"You should be."

"Why? Why when I am surrounded by death and the dead?"

"Your father?" Carl's taken aback at the mention of his father. He quickly wonders if she knows him, he wants to ask instead he allows her to continue. "Do you love your father?"

"Of course, I do. I l-"

She flicks her wrist, holding her hand up and silencing him.

"Are there others at your home... in Alexandria... that you love? That you care about?"

Carl's mind races as he thinks about Judith and Dre, his father, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, a few others and Enid. Her smile. His thoughts settle on Enid's smile.

"Yea," He replies with a slow nod.

"Then you should be afraid."

"Why?"

"You should be afraid of missing one more day with a chance at being with them."

"And you think fear keeps you alive to get another day with a chance?"

"It keeps you smart."

"It makes you reckless," Carl retorts. Her eyes sparkles with humor in the dimly lit room.

"Fear of missing one more day with a chance of being with your love ones... people who you care about... people who care about you... that fear helps you focus on what you need to do to stay alive and return to them."

"Fear cripples you."

"Only if you allow it to. Being afraid to die, of missing on that chance can be a good thing. Being afraid to die helps you make decisions to stay away from death for as long as possible. "

Carl thinks of Enid's smile again, he thinks of Judith's stream of giggles, and Dre's nonstop curious questions. He nods in understanding before looking up to see Michonne studying his face with an almost pain expression.

"And what if I am scared?" Carl questions in a whispers.

"Embrace it but don't let it control you. You use it to help guide you home."

"Are you afraid to die?" It's another whisper.

A flicker of life crosses her dark eyes before it quickly dies. She answers with a soft sigh, "I use to be… but then I died. A long time ago I did die."

"No you didn't," Her eyes widens a fraction in surprise at Carl's answer. His voice increasing in volume with sincerity, "Otherwise you wouldn't have helped me."

A smirk fits across her face, "Maybe."

They're silent for a moment until Michonne speaks again.

"Eat," She says pushing the plate of food towards him.

He shakes his head, declining the offer.

"You tried to escape."

His eye snaps up to hers.

"No… I..uh-"

"Don't lie to me," She cuts him off with another sharp flick of her wrist.

"You said it yourself... they were going to kill me. I didn't lie about that. I decided to escape before they had a chance."

"The small hole in the fence, right? Lose them on foot in the woods, hopefully find a car, and drive home. You had a good plan. Almost made it out."

Carl clenches his teeth and glares at her. Her smirk widens a fraction at his flash of anger.

"Hunger makes you weak. It slows you down. Lack of sleep does the same. Adrenaline will only take you so far. When you're capture or at a place you need to escape… and they are _kind_..." She says the word with malice, Carl watches as her eyes shifts to a memory far away. "Enough to feed you… you eat. You sleep when it is safe to. You gain your strength so when it's time to fight, you're ready. So when it is time to run, you're ready."

He studies her pretty face and dark brown eyes as they stare into the distance. He's surprise at her simple logic and wisdom but can't shake the feeling it was a hard lesson that she learned.

"What happened to you?" Carl asks curiosity loosening the words from his tongue.

Her dark eyes flip to him so quickly he jolts away from her hard glare the earlier softness and concern gone. A memory of a not too distance past flickers across the dark orbs. Carl register the hurt and pain.

"I died."

He wants to ask her how but refrains, he sees her kindness ebbing away by the darkness that shrouds her like a second skin.

"Eat!" She says again, forcing the plate onto his lap. Carl takes the plate and picks up the sandwich. He takes a tentative bite, his stomach grumbles in response as she nods her head. She stands from her spot and starts to leave the room before she adds, "When you're done, rest."

XxXx00000xXxX

The loud knock jolts him from his sleep. Carl quickly sits up on the plush bed as the door to Michonne's room violently swings open. At the door stands Conner with a glare and sneer pulling his thin lips away from his teeth.

"Rise and fucking shine, shit head. We're taking your ass home!"

* * *

 **A/N: Yayyy! Carl's going back home! Does that mean a Michonne and Rick reunion?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Homecoming L4yers**

Conner curses at him for another minute before he leaves; Carl notices that the brute barely walk pass the threshold of Michonne's room. Once the man is gone and the door slam shut, he hauls himself out the bed pulling the makeshift knife from under the pillow. Once he was caught by Negan and his men, Carl was relieved of all his weapon except for the shiv hidden in his shoe.

After Michonne left him, Carl finished his meal before he took her advice and climbed into the plush bed to rest. He didn't think he would be able to sleep but minutes after his head hit the fluffy pillow Carl was sound asleep with the blade tightly wrap in his fist.

Standing he stretches his sore muscles before he ambles towards the bathroom to relieve himself and quickly clean up. Once finish, he emerges from the separate room and glances around noting that Michonne never returned to her room. He wonders where she spent the night silently hoping it wasn't with Negan, a light knock on the door pulls him from his thoughts.

With his weapon in hand he moves toward the door and inches it open to find the scarred face of Timmy… Jose. The fragile boy stands on the other side with clothes he recognizes as his and a plate of food.

"Michonne sent these up for you."

Carl ushers Jose into the room, the frail boy nervously steps into the space looking around the interior with an open mouth and wide eyes.

"You look like shit," Carl comments looking at the boy. He sports a black eyes on the side of his burnt face, a busted lip, and the bruising impression of Negan's hand still rest on his neck.

"You don't look much better."

Carl only nods as he takes his clothes from the young man and slips into the bathroom once more. After the things Negan said yesterday he wants to avoid looking at himself in the mirror but he chances a quick glance. He also has a black eye forming nicely on his eye and a bruise jaw not to mention several cuts along his face that Miss Edna mended with bandage tapes. It reminds him of how his father looked like after his fight with Pete Anderson when they first arrived at Alexandria. Shaking his head, he sighs and moves to his tasks of changing clothes.

He quickly changes, happy to be back into his own clothes that have been recently washed and now smells like fresh linens. He thinks of Michonne, the clean clothes most likely her doings, he knows no one else would be as thoughtful. He smiles at her continue kindness as exits the bathroom; Carl finds Jose looking over the books, he jolts away from the shelves and stands as straight as possible.

"I can't believe she let you stay in here," Jose envies.

"Why?" Carl asks as he picks up his sandwich and takes a bit.

"Michonne allows no one in here well except for Negan but he really doesn't asks permission. I watched him just barge in here several times... actually all the time! He doesn't even knock. One day Michonne was dressing when he barged in and Austin was with him... well not with him... he didn't come into her room like Negan did. He just stood by the door and I guess he saw her naked or mostly naked because he was bragging about seeing her... well... you know... her breast," Jose whispers the last word. He looks nervously around before he continues, "Michonne is not Negan's wife or anything but the way Negan treats her you would never know."

A part of Carl doesn't care to hear Jose's winded speech but another part is curious to learn more of the mysterious woman, therefore he remains quiet and listens as he eats his meal.

"There was this guy, Brent, he was an asshole but not as bad as Conner. He was one of Negan's top lieutenant and a badass roamer killer. Anyways Brent liked her... he like Michonne a lot! He tried to date her or as close to dating you get when the world ends! He brought her flowers and used most of his points to get her stuff. I don't think Michonne liked him but rumor is that Negan caught them kissing and next thing you know the guy disappeared. Like vanished into thin air. One day he was here and the next gone! No one knows what happened to him, no one even so much as speaks his name around Negan. He's crazy jealous when it comes to Michonne. Anyways when Austin was bragging about seeing Michonne's breast," He whispers the word again, "Negan threaten to cut off his dick if he said anything else about seeing Michonne naked. Needless to say that Austin has never spoken about that day again but... what was I saying... oh yea only Negan comes in here and oh that old voodoo woman Miss Edna but that's it. Once one of Negan's wives... well she's actually his ex-wife now... she came in here and Michonne caught her snooping in her thing. The next day the woman was banned from the Sanctuary and sent to live at one of the outpost. Besides them no one else comes in here... well except for you and now me because of you."

Carl refrains from rolling his eye at Jose's long speech, yet he's thankful for it; he soaks in the information about Michonne's and Negan's relationship not knowing the purpose but figures it may be useful later. After he's done eating he straightens the room with Jose's help before they exit.

XxXx00000xXxX

Stepping outside of Michonne's room he's not surprise to see two young guards waiting for him holding rifles. The issue is the guards are Austin's friends, Carl glares at them before he follows Jose through the halls of the Sanctuary.

Negan gave his father seven days to gather the supply for the Saviors, it is only the third day. Carl knows that if his father is planning an attack on Negan and his Saviors, they will not be ready in three days. Carl also knows that his father will not have Negan's supplies ready either. He guesses this is Negan's plan to catch his father off guard.

The progression to the front of the Sanctuary comes to a halt when Austin steps in front of him and Jose, he's flank by two more of his friends. Carl glances around at the hostile faces of the five young men, releasing a sigh already knowing what is to come.

"Hello fuck face!" Austin calls out. Jose tenses and whips his head around at the gather boys. Austin sneers at Jose before stepping up to Carl, "I know you were trying to escape last night. It's your fault that William and Chad are dead!"

"Austin… he's still our guest!" Jose says.

"I don't care if he's Jesus H. fucking Christ. I should beat his ass."

"You can try," Carl challenges taking a step towards Austin. The older boy sneers and pushes Carl who stumbles back before he shoves Austin back hard enough he falls into the arms of the others behind him. He leaps toward Carl but Jose inserts himself in between them.

"Negan is not going to be happy if you fight him," Jose states. Austin growls his frustration, he leaps forward and lands a hard punch on Jose's jaw knocking the thin boy to the ground.

As soon as Jose hits the ground, Carl rushes Austin with his own closed fist. He delivers a right hook to the boy's jaw followed by a left and another right. Before Carl can land another blow to Austin, his friends pull him off and starts to punch him. He trips and curls into himself, trying to protect his head and face as several pairs of hands and feet pummel him from above.

"Stop."

The attack comes to a pause at the sound of the voice, he knows it is her. He knows it is Michonne. Her voice is quiet but powerful and commands everyone to obey with the single word.

"This doesn't concern you!" Austin shouts. Carl struggles to his feet as a thin hand helps him up, he looks up at Jose before turning to see Michonne gliding towards them with her sword strap to her back. She's not alone, two of Negan's soldiers follow a step behind her.

"Are you scared Austin?" Michonne taunts as she circles the group of boys as the armed men stand back curiously watching.

"What the fuck?"

"Does Negan's little Serial Killer scare you?"

"Why the fuck should I be scared? He ain't fucking shit!" The boy asks with his eyes downcast. Carl glares at Michonne watching her move around them, wondering what she has in mind.

"He killed six men," She murmurs softly, they all lean towards her listening to her cool words, "That must frighten you a little."

"I've killed more people and the bastard was lucky! He was fucking hiding like a little bitch he is."

"No, I think you are scared. If you weren't you all wouldn't gang up on him."

"What the fuck are you trying to say?" Austin asks glancing up at the Michonne for the briefest of seconds.

"One on one," Carl says. Michonne smirks as she looks at him then at a surprise Austin.

"Well?" Michonne asks.

Carl can tell the boy doesn't want to fight him one on one, but it is too late for him to back down in front of his friends, Michonne, and two of Negan's soldiers. Austin looks around the group as if he's going to back away but suddenly he leaps at Carl and lands a sucker punch on his bandage eye socket. The blow stings and dazes him, Carl feels another hit land on his already bruise jaw and then another one across his nose. Austin laughs as he backs away.

"Serial Killer huh? You're just a little bitch!" Austin spats, he throws another punch but Carl blocks him and throws a left cross at the boy's face so hard, he stumbles back. Yelling in rage Austin tackles Carl to the ground, he lands several body shots before Carl hits him in the abdomen. As Austin tries to protect his side, Carl lands a hard elbow to the side of Austin's face, using the momentum of the hit he forces them to roll over until he's on top of the older boy. Adrenaline pumps in his veins as he allows his anger to overtake him, Carl swings wildly and hits Austin repeatedly. Weaving his hand into the boy's hair Carl fists a hand full, he tightens his hold on the boy and delivers several hard punches to the Austin's face. He tunnels his rage into each punch he lands while Austin blindly claws at his face and arms. Hearing a loud crack in the distance and feeling wetness cover his hand Carl knows broke something, he's unbothered by it reveling in the moment. Austin's legs thrash wildly as he tries to buck the enrage boy off of him; Carl uses his body weight to pin the boy down as he continues his onslaught.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?"

As soon as the voice bellows out Carl is haul off of Austin and push against the wall by one man as another holds a rifle at his face. His eye dart wildly around the new faces, taking in an enrage Negan and several of his men. Austin's goons drop to their knees at Negan's approach, along with Jose, and the two men that were with Michonne.

"What fucking part of he's a fucking guest you shit brains morons did not motherfucking understand?" Negan shouts.

Austin scurries to kneel before Negan, cowering in fear. Blood pours down his nose and one eye is shut, already beginning to swell. Carl smirks at the damage he has done to the boy.

"Negan… I swear…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"She made them fight." One of the boys whimpers.

"WHAT?"

Negan looks around the group, everyone kneels before him excluding Carl who is still pin against a wall along by two guards and Michonne. She stands unfazed by his anger.

One of the men who first walked up with her speaks up, "Michonne instigated the fight."

Carl watches as Negan slowly turns to face Michonne, a look of a mixture of curiosity, anger, annoyance, and admiration crosses his face. Michonne doesn't say anything. She only stares at Negan as if daring him to comment about her action. They stare at each other for a long moment as if they're alone in the hallway, the air around them snaps with a dark current. Carl notes the intensity of their stare, a fresh anger boils in his chest as a new look swells in Negan's eyes.

"Sammi!" He says. Anger, annoyance, and something else Carl can't figure out floods the one word.

"Negan!" She replies softly.

When he doesn't say anything else, she turns and walks away without another word.

"Get this fucker cleaned up, we leave within the hour!" Negan shouts as he starts after her.

XxXx00000xXxX

Michonne is in a good mood. She woke up smiling, feeling hopeful. For the first time in a long time she isn't numb; she almost feels like her old self, almost. The numbness feeling that cloaks, protects, and weighs her down didn't greet her when she woke up, she felt good. She hasn't felt hopeful in a while. All morning she's been trying to pinpoint the reason for this new spring of hope, enjoying her renew senses.

Walking towards the Sanctuary's gate a brigade of men gather their firearms and weapons for their trip to Alexandria. She watches the various men and woman for several moments; deciding which vehicle she wants to ride in, she's not particularly fond of many of the Saviors. The trip to Alexandria comes four days earlier than what was told to the Alexandrian but Negan wouldn't be Negan if he didn't show up early surprising the community. She learned a while ago it was always best to expect the unexpected with Negan.

At the gate of the compound Michonne spots Rash-an, a young pleasant middle Eastern man she tolerates well; he's a decent soft spoken man trying to survive at the end of the world. Her sheath sword in hand and messenger bag swings from her shoulder, she moves toward his vehicle as it's being loaded deciding to ride along with him.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

"I'm joining the group," Michonne answers turning to face Negan as he approaches her.

She knows she shouldn't antagonize him; killing two men, inciting the fight between the two boys and blatantly disrespecting him in front of his men, she knows she's pushing Negan to his limit. She knows there is only so much Negan will tolerate even when it comes to her, yet she continues to do so.

"I didn't say you could come."

She lowers her voice and closes the distances between them, "I wasn't asking."

"You didn't hear a fucking word I told you earlier?"

He's referring to the threats of sending her to one of the outpost to endure hard labor as punishment for instigating the fight and her disrespect; Michonne knows him well enough to know that he will not follow through on the threat. Especially a threat of sending her away, he knows she'll enjoy it too much and wouldn't think of it as a punishment.

"Barely." She doesn't mean for it to come out a throaty whisper but it does, it sounds as if she's flirting.

The dark energy ball of attraction from earlier returns. Michonne gazes into Negan's hazel eyes; to deny his attractiveness would be a lie, he is tall and handsome with a charming smile and dimples. He leans into her, hazel eyes falling to her lips before returning to her eyes. That familiar ache thumps low in her abdomen and heat her center; their attraction a violent one.

"And if I make you stay?" Negan asks his eyes darkening with lust.

The thump double its pace, "You can try."

Negan takes a step closer, his eyes drop back to her lips as Michonne cranes her head back to look up into dancing hazel orbs returning to her dark brown ones. That hopeful feeling causes her guard to lower, causes Negan to see her inner battle with reconciling her physical attraction to him. He smiles knowingly as his eyes soften, lust pooling in his eyes spreading his lips wider. Michonne's breath hitches as she takes a step back.

He chuckles softly, she knows he want to say more instead he simply states, "You're riding with me."

Michonne gives him a curt nod, she turns on her heel and walks to the lead car. Inhaling a cleansing breath as she places distance between her and Negan, she catches Carl's eye as she climbs into the back seat alongside of him. He has fresh new bruises on his face from his earlier fight.

"What was that?" He asks about her exchange with Negan. She scowls at the unexpected angry undertones in his voice.

"Nothing."

He narrow his eye on her but doesn't further comment on it, instead he asks, "And Austin?"

"The little shit needed his ass kicked."

She watches him holds back a grin.

Michonne adds, "All you needed was what a good night sleep and a full belly."

"I would have still kicked his ass without neither."

"I know."

The boy doesn't speak, he allows himself a smirk of triumph as he shyly looks away from her. Negan gives several more orders to lieutenants staying at the Sanctuary before he climbs into the passenger side. Karson ,one of his other lieutenant, climbs into the driver's seat; he turns the ignition, shifts the car into drive, and leads the way to the young boy's home.

An hour later the brigade pulls to a stop, Karson hops out the car and relay orders to several of the men before returning to the vehicle and continuing on. Michonne notices several cars pulling away from the main group to set up a parameter and snipers around the community. Another fifteen minutes passes before Karson rolls to a stop at the gates of Alexandria. Abandon spiked cars litter part of the area in front of Alexandria's high gates, the wall surrounding the community is made up of steel panels and hides the community from outsiders peeking in. Michonne is neither impressed or unimpressed with the gate and wall, Hilltop's walls are far more grand; Michonne knows with a truck big enough it can knock down almost any wall. Jericho's walls came down with a sound of a trumpet.

Karson lays on the horn of the car and other vehicles follow the lead car's jester announcing their arrival. Once the horns stop, Negan steps out the car and yells up to the guard at the gate.

"Little piggy. Little piggy. Let me in!"

Other men and women stepping out of their respective vehicles have already join his side, they laugh at his joke. Michonne doesn't find the childish humor funny. She leans over removing the hood from the boy's head and unties his hands. He shakes his head and rubs his eye, adjusting his sight to the bright sun of the early afternoon.

"Little Piggy!"

Still no one respond.

"Almost forgot," Michonne says as she reaches in her bag and pulls out his sheriff's hat, brushing it off as she hands it to him. She smiles wide as his face lights up at the sight of the hat.

"Thank you, Michonne!"

"Little Motherfucking Piggy!" Negan barks again.

"You're early," a southern voice calls out.

Ice rips down her spine at the sound of the deep southern drawl, the boy leans forward in his seat. He looks out the windshield window and up towards the gate.

Her wide smile falls from her lips at the sound of the southern voice, Michonne stills. It's a voice that haunted her, that continues to haunt her. A voice she thought she would never hear again. A voice that shatters that last semblances of humanity within her. A voice that extinguish the last flicker hope from her soul.

* * *

 **A/N: Seriously... who thought I was going to make this easy? *throws head back and laughs manically***

 **Let me know what you think. As always thank you for taking the time out to read and comment! It's always appreciated. - fithola**


	9. Chapter 9

**Remembering L4yers**

Her wide smile falls from her lips at the sound of the southern voice, Michonne stills. It's a voice that haunted her, that continues to haunt her. A voice she thought she would never hear again. A voice that shatters the last semblances of humanity within her. A voice that extinguish the last flicker of hope from her soul.

She cranes her head towards the voice, the angle of the sun pouring over him a silhouette upon the top of the gates of Alexandria. The silhouette stands with a hand at its side inching towards its gun laying like a shadow on its hip.

"I fucking thought it over, I didn't want to keep the boy away from his daddy. So I decided to come early. That is… unless… you don't want to see your boy."

 _His son?_ Michonne head snaps to the boy besides her. His son. His eye. It is his father's eyes. She looks at the boy, seeing pieces of _him_ in the young man. A rage starts to boil within the pit where her heart once resided.

"Where's my son? Show me my son!"

"Open the gates Little Piggy."

"Show me my son first!"

"The fucking gate, Piggy!"

Michonne looks back as the silhouette shifts slightly before disappearing from the wall. After a couple of minutes, the gates open. The silhouette morphs into a man, standing at the threshold of the open gate.

"Little piggy," Negan says with a chuckle as he saunters up to the gate.

"Where's my son?"

"Is that the way to greet an old friend?"

"Where is my son?"

Negan laughs louder, he then turns to the car and waves, "Serial Killer, come on out! Ya Papi wants to see you."

The boy looks over to Michonne, she glares at him. His earlier smile falls from his lip as he's shaken at the sudden change in her demeanor;her kindness completely gone replace with a look so dark Hades, himself would tremble in fear. Unable to remove his eye from her, the young boy pushes the door open and backs out the vehicle. The eye contact is broken only when he's out the car and the door slams shut effectively cutting the contact. Through the tinted window Michonne watches Carl shake off the cold stare before turning towards the man; he tries to coolly walk to his father but his steps speed up as he rushes to his father's arm.

"Dad!"

"Carl!"

The sight of the father and son embrace warms the empty cavity of her chest for the briefest of seconds before it ignites into an envious rages. Envy so thick it chokes and steals her breath away, causing it difficult for her to breathe. The red haze that covers her world and vision darkens to a malicious hue of spite, death, and destruction.

She remains in the back seat as several other men follow Negan into the gates of Alexandria on foot as other drives slowly into the community. Karson pulls the car pass the gates into the community slowly driving alongside of Negan. Michonne's rage doubles as she looks around Alexandria. The clean yards and beautiful houses, a haunting picture of a time before the Turn, Michonne can appreciate the aesthetics of the community yet it only fuels the fire of her envious rage.

Negan's thoughts mirror hers, he whistles loudly impress with the community: "Piggy this is a nice ass set-up you have. I'm almost jealous! Almost."

"What happened to him?" the man questions Negan as he examines his son's battered face.

"Dad, I'm fine."

"Well… Serial Killer likes to start fights, kind of like his Papi."

With clench fist Rick starts toward Negan but Carl and a tall board shoulder red hair man with handle bar mustache hold him off, "Dad, I'm fine."

"Rick!" the redhead warns holing onto the man.

"Ricky! Fucking relax! It shouldn't be me you're pissed at, you should be upset at fucking Serial Killer here, he the one with the fucking temper! I can fucking see where the little shit gets it from!"

The man tries to move out of the redhead's arms but Carl steps in front of him, he grabs hold of his father's arms and steps in front of him.

"Dad! Please, I'm fine," Carl sucks in a deep breathe, "I promise, I'm okay."

He pauses at the plea from his son.

Rick, his name is Rick. In all the times Michonne allowed herself to think about him, she never guess his name was Rick. She watches from the backseat of the vehicle as Rick nods and touch Carl's cheek as the afternoon sun shrouds their faces with dancing shadows. He holds his son close before the man turns to face Negan pushing the young boy, Carl, behind him. He lifts his head and talks to Negan, his voice tight with anger.

"We didn't know you'll be coming early. We didn't... we started to inventory and… we got about half of it ready."

"Straight to sucking dick, a businessman. I fucking like it."

Karson turns off the ignition before he gets out the vehicle he turns to Michonne, "You coming?"

She gives him a curt nod, not trusting her own voice to betray her inner turmoil. Michonne slips out and follows Karson making sure to stay several steps behind the big man and out of the direct sight of Rick.

Hearing his voice is one thing but seeing him, getting a closer look at his face, it has another violent effect upon her. Her eyes drinks him in after seven years, marveling at the sight of him wondering if this is a sweet dream or a wicked night terror. She mentally rebukes her body for warming at the sight of him. Salt and pepper stubble covers his strong jaw and frames his salacious lips and curly chestnut hair falls across his forehead adding a youthful appeal to the gray on his beard. He's thinner and eyes are slightly hollowed with a few scars on his face adding a distinguished ruggedness to his handsomeness. Yet it is his eyes that simultaneously causes a violent tremor of fury and longing to erupt within her. Butterflies stampede with a malevolent frenzy within her chest, her stomach churns with bile, and her lungs constricts pleading for air.

It is his eyes, those haunting celestial blue eyes that burns a hole into Negan as he glares at him. It is those lips that causes her skin to fever as if he's touching her. Recollection of another lifetime hits Michonne in the center of her chest causing the butterflies to fester with longing and a painful fury; she stumbles back as the memories assaults her every senses.

Michonne remembers the soft, sweet, and slow kiss.

She remembers the dimly lit unimpressive bar, L4yers.

She remember first locking eyes with his cerulean spheres.

She remembers it all.

The effortless conversations.

The light flirtatious touches.

The heartiness of his laughter.

The way his eyes lit up when he smiled.

His whispers of: 'I like everything about you.'

Of asking her to wait.

She remembers: You. Me. Us.

She remembers the love making.

Their body coming together as if solely meant for the other.

His confident touches.

The sweet words of his southern drawl.

His kisses that caused her toes to curl.

Her cries of pleasure from his thorough strokes.

Being overwhelmingly full by his harden length.

His eyes boring into hers as they both discovered unknown levels of ecstasy.

She remember the consequences of that night with him.

Consequences that birth a blessing.

A blessing she fell madly in love with.

A blessing that changed her life for the better until she lost him.

Until he was ripped from this world too soon… her son, her little peanut, her Andre.

Andre Anthony, her love. Her heart.

She remembers her son.

His infectious smile and laughter.

His unruly black curls.

His never ending questions and bright curiosity.

His sweet and caring nature.

His wet kisses and tight hugs.

His copper honey colored skin.

His cerulean blue eyes, so similar to his father's.

She remembers their son, Andre.

At the mere sight of him Michonne almost crumbles to her knees at the onslaught of memories at finding him at the end of the world. She fights back the tears that swells in her eyes. She holds on tightly to the boiling envious rage that explodes within her so violently that her entire being trembles like a branch in the midst of a storm. Raging envy overtakes her at the sight of him well and alive with his son, Carl, in this beautiful community while she lost her own son.

She squeezes her eyes shut and fights the urge to whip out her sword to slaughter his son Carl, in order to bring him the same pain she deals with the past two years. In order to balance the scales. The thought sickens and enrages her, yielding only more turmoil to burn inside of her.

"Aye," Michonne feels a hand on her arm, "you look sick. You al'right?"

Michonne peels open her eyes and looks at the man, Dwight stumbles away from her feeling the full weight of her demons in her dark eyes. His eyes flashes with fear and confusion as he stumbles backwards quickly looking away from her eyes. The red haze intensifies brightly, flooding the world in a blood red hue. She only nods and follows after Negan at a safe distance, not trusting herself at getting to close to Rick and Carl. Knowing if she does, the urge to bring them both pain will overwhelm her until she complies with her dark desires. Dwight steps in line after her, keeping a safe distance from the mad woman.

XxXx00000xXxX

Negan watches as Rick lead them to the stock pile of their supplies. The room is split fairly evenly, Rick points to a portion of the room and indicating their stuff. He mentions that several of their people are out on runs trying to collect more.

He beams at Rick with delight, "Ricky boy this deep throat you're giving… shit is almost as good as some of my wives!"

The comment entices several chuckles from his men, while Rick's face remain devoid of any emotions even his anger seems in check, the only give away a tick on his jaw.

"Start loading up my fucking shit!" Negan orders. Several of his men quickly complies and start gathering up their hard earn supplies before he turns back to Rick.

"Now for the fucking tour!"

Rick grimace but nods relenting to Negan's demand; he beckons a black man in a priest robe over to them.

"Who the fuck is this? There's still priest left on this hellhole?" Negan spouts with a chuckle, "Actually I'm not surprise… I bet the fucker like touching boys, huh Father? Serial Killer... Carly are you the priest favorite altar boy?"

His men laughs at his quips. Rick controls the anger from displaying on his face, his fist clenches at his side but he gives Negan a stoic look. It is Carl's face that tightens with anger, Negan in turn smiles broadly at both men. The priest fiddles with his hands as he walks up to the other men.

"I want a few minutes with my son, Father Gabriel will start on the tour and I'll join y'all in a few."

Eyeing the father and son, Negan concedes, "Sure… just don't be too fucking long."

Father Gabriel leads the group back out into the streets of Alexandria, Negan whistles while swinging Lucille as he follows the priest. The priest leads them around the community pointing and commenting about the various aspects of the Alexandria.

Several of his men walk along with him marveling at the lush community along with them is Michonne. He was annoyed and upset with her earlier for instigating the fight between Austin and the young serial killer, Carl, as well as her blatant disrespects; the anger and annoyance quickly faded when he locked eyes with her and saw the desire shinning in her eyes. A desire and attraction to him that she constantly fights, much to his chagrin but it is part of her charm. The challenge of winning Michonne completely over is one of the things he finds enticing about her.

Negan watches her, a smile pulls at his lips at her beauty and fierceness. He notices her dark eyes drinking in the community but unlike the others, she doesn't look at the place with awe but with disgust and anger. Negan is in tune with Michonne well enough to feel the dark shift from her earlier mood, something is bothering her. She was in a pleasant mood this morning but as soon as they arrived in Alexandria, her mood shifted. He can only assume it is the community and the memories it may evoke of a time before the Turn. His own thoughts goes to his late wife before he pushes the memories from his mind. Focusing on Michonne, he also knows she will never willingly or completely tell him what's bothering her. She's not the sharing kind. Negan notes the change in her mood but decides not to mention it, at least not yet.

He instead tries to lighten the mood, he sidles next to Michonne and swings his arms around her shoulder pulling her to him. She doesn't tense at his touch, instead she relaxes a fraction as he bends down placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Darling, ain't this fucking nice?"

"It is not real, a fantasy-land in the midst of hell."

"Yea but its fucking nice to pretend. We should pick out one of these empty houses and it can be a vacation home and shit."

"Or we can kill them all and take it."

Negan pulls to a stop, drawing Michonne with him. He stares into her eyes, gauging her seriousness. The darkness in her eyes burns bright like earlier instead of seeing her lust he sees the demons dancing within the scope of her chocolate orbs. He smiles wider seeing the staid glint in her eyes. Michonne is an enigma, a mystery that enrages, confuses, and entice him. He's certain it is the fierce darkness and rage in her that calls out and draws him to her but he also knows it's that soft vulnerability that she hides so well. That softness that he seeks out and yearns for her to share with him.

His eyes drops to her lush lips, she's one of the most beautiful woman he has even seen; her body tone and muscular but soft and curvy, her skin the color of rich mouthwatering cocoa and her sensual molten dark brown eyes. She's strong, intelligent, fearless, and fierce; her beauty shining from the inside out even amongst the raging darkness. He cups her cheek and pushes a stray lock of hair from her face before he leans down and places a kiss on Michonne's lips. She vibrates in his arms. Her lips soften against his before he has a chance to deepen the kiss she pulls away.

"Marry me, Michonne."

He only says her real name in private or when he's being serious and he's always serious when he speaks about wanting more than just friendship with her. This isn't the first times he asked Michonne to marry him; her answer is always the same, yet he still asks knowing if they were to truly come together they would be unstoppable. He continues to asks because he sees her resolve to decline his offer slowly ebbs away. She gazes deep into his hazel eyes; her dark brown eyes soften for a brief moment before they harden into unrepentant black ice.

"No," Michonne says pulling away from him.

"One day woman! One day," Negan says with a chuckle as he follows after her.

XxXx00000xXxX

"You're okay?"

"Yea, dad. I'm fine."

"What happened?" Rick asks examining Carl's face.

"I got into a fight. Some of the boys there didn't like me very much."

"Negan let this happen?"

"He didn't know… he stopped the fight and he was… he didn't know."

Rick's anger flares at the sight of Carl's face. He clenches his teeth and nods, "Did… anything… are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, dad," Carl says before he changes the subject slightly, "I tried to remember every detail about the compound and the drive over here. He had my head cover for most of the drive bu-"

"I'm just glad you're okay," Rick says hugging his son.

"I'm not a little kid anymore," Carl saying pulling away from his father's embrace.

"I know… I know, Carl. I just…" Rick breathes, "Will you be able to draw it out?"

The young boy nods.

"Good. We'll do that later."

"Where's Judith and Dre?"

"They're okay… Rosita watching them and some of the others."

Rick watches as Carl nods again, he looks down at his feet and fights the tears. He looks determine not to cry but once Rick hugs him again, Carl tightens his hold on his father and cries into his arm.

"It's okay, son. It's okay."

Carl allows himself to cry for a brief moment before pulling away from Rick and wiping at his face.

"I'm okay," Carl says after a moment he looks up at his dad and adds, "Can I go see Judith and Dre?"

"Yea, they're at Ms. Niedermeyer's."

"Ms. Niedermeyer's? Why not the church?"

"She has a hidden crawl space that leads from the attic to a cellar and outside. It's one of the safest place for the kids."

Carl nods he starts away from his father before turning and giving Rick one more hug before extracting himself from the embrace. He turns and leaves the backroom of the house heading to reunite with his little brother and sister.

Rick reels in his anger, grasping it with a tight leash before he goes to find the unwanted guess. He finds Negan and his men gathering around the front gate, surprise that their visit is relatively short. He expected a longer more intrusive visit from the Saviors. He recognizes several of the men from the previous night in the clearing but there are several new faces amongst the old.

"Ricky boy, this is a real nice set up you got. I am almost tempted to just take it."

Rick feels his hand twitch for his python. He wants nothing more than to shoot this man in his face, his eyes sweeps around Negan's gather men. The Saviors out number them; also some of his key people, Glenn, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Morgan, and a few others are not there. As much as Rick wants to kill him, he knows this isn't the time nor the place. Negan caught him off guard by showing up four days earlier than expected but it is a lesson learn.

"Holy shit, fucking relax Ricky boy. I'm only fuckin' around but I may get me one of these houses though."

"Negan, everything is loaded," a bald man says to the man.

He barks orders to starts loading up before he turns his attention back on Rick. A shit eating grin crosses his lips. Rick fights another urge to pull out his gun and shoot him.

"This shit is only half of my motherfucking half but I'll be back in four days to collect the rest of my shit."

"We'll have it ready," Rick assures him.

"I know you will… I'm gonna leave a few of my people here just to assures y'all stay on y'all fucking best behavior."

"That's not necessary," Rick balks, realizing why Negan's visit is so short.

"I know but it's still gonna fucking happen."

From the corner of his eyes Rick catches a flash of dark skin and flowing long black hair, he chances a look from Negan into the directions of the flash as a door closes to one of Negan's vehicles. His eyes narrows at the dark tint of the car's windows.

XxXx00000xXxX

Intense blue eyes pierce the dark tinted window and burns into hers, Michonne is sure he can't see her but she feels the power of Rick's gaze as he glares at the car she quickly slips into.

She finds the simple tasks of breathing difficult, she feels the crushing weight of Andre's death all over again. The images of the pale honey colored small arm torn from his body and his red bloody hoodie plays on repeat in her mind's eyes. As Rick stares at the car with his peculiar blue eyes, a juxtaposition image of Andre's matching blue eyes smiling and laughing mixes with the image of death.

Michonne tears her eyes away from him, she drops her head between her knees and focus on breathing. She focuses on locking away those images in the dark recess of her mind. She focuses on locking away Andre's memory. She focuses on locking away the pain that threatens to swallow her whole.

In the distance she hears Negan's approach, the car door opens and a person hops in. The weight of the car shifts, Michonne knows it's Karson.

She hears Negan speaks to his men, he doles out assignments of who he wants to stay in Alexandria, picking five Saviors in total.

"When I return, I want my men and I want the remaining half of my shit."

"Like I said, it will be ready." The sound of his voice causes her to tremble with another wave of envious fury and pain at the loss of her son, of their son.

"Oh… I know Ricky Boy… otherwise there's going to be hell to fucking pay but you're good at being on your knees and sucking dick… so I trust you." Negan says as hops into the car and shut the door.

Karson turns the engine and starts off out of the community.

"What's wrong with you?" Negan asks noticing Michonne with her head between her knees. At the question Michonne steels her inner turmoil and sits up. She locks eyes with Negan, an eyebrow goes up in question as he takes in the malicious look in her eyes.

"Nothing… nothing is wrong," Michonne answers her voice freezing away all emotions as she watches the image of Rick fading behind her.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello lovelies! Soooo... what are we thinking? Readers have been asking if Andre is Rick's son and I hope this clarifies it. Also I hope it clarifies Michonne's negative reaction to Rick's voice in the last chapter. I know... I know everyone wants a union between Rick and Michonne but even more important Michonne and Andre and it WILL happen but... well stay tune and you'll see.**

 **Thanks for reading, commenting, following, and favoriting this story! It is all appreciated. Please continue to do so because honestly... I live for y'alls comments. Once again thank you for taking the time and reading my work.**

 **On another note those who are waiting on the next chapter of _What Happens In Vegas?_ , an update is coming soon! Like by the end of this week (Friday-ish). Thanks for your patience on that one one as well. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello! I am so sorry about the long wait for the update.**

 **Let me quickly explain. There was a comment about the pace and how slow it was that really messed me up. So I rewrote the entire chapter and the following one to speed up the process but it just wasn't working out. It was like the characters were like: "NOPE." So after battling with myself and the characters I returned to the original with just a few changes.**

 **Please note: I've already mapped out this story and even written various key pieces BUT I do take into consideration people's comments, thoughts, and ideas when a review is written.**

 **Anyways here is the update! Thank you all for staying with me and reading this crazy tale of mine. Thanks!**

* * *

 **L4yers of Waiting**

 _One Day After the Visit_

Rick paces his living room as he anxiously waits for the others to arrive. It's been a day since Negan surprised visit and the vile man is due back in another three.

"Daddy?"

Rick turns to see wide blue eyes staring up at him.

"Hey little bear come here," Rick says kneeling and holding out his arms for his son, Dre. His son runs into his arms and buries his head into his chest wrapping his thin arms around Rick's neck and hugging him tightly.

Rick picks up the young child and hugs him close, kissing his head full of black curls. He sits down and allows his son to curl up in his lap and snuggles into his arms. Rick assumes the young boy is about six years old, he's small for his age but so was Carl when he was young. It wasn't until Carl got older that her sprouted in height even though he remain fairly thin partly due to the lack of sufficient nourishing food.

"What is it little bear?"

"Nothing," He replies shaking his head of curls.

Rick hugs him tighter and Dre buries himself deeper into Rick's arms. It is these moments with his son that he fights for. He can't allow men like Negan to survive and take away from his children, from his family, and from his community.

Dre hums a soft lullaby to himself as Rick hugs him and caresses the boy's black curls.

"Can't sleep?"

"I want Carl."

"He'll be here soon."

"I miss momma," he whines.

"I know little bear, I know."

Rick rocks his son in his arms, knowing the momma he's referring to is not Lori. Dre was never close to Lori. Lori was decent to the boy but she never grew attached to him and he wasn't attached to her. Dre was and still is Carl's shadow, everywhere that Carl goes Dre follows closely and when he can't go he pouts sometimes throws a tantrum, unless Carl or Rick take the time to talk to him about the reason for their leaving and promising to return.

When Rick returned without Carl because Negan took him hostage, Rick expected the young child to throw a fit instead the boy calmly took the news. It wasn't until later when Sasha discover the determined fearless young boy with a backpack at the gate demanding to be release from Alexandria in order to retrieve his older brother. It was a heartwarming and breaking scene to behold, it was only after Rick promised to bring Carl home and convinced him that his little sister, Judith, needed him that Dre returned home. Rick knows Carl's and Dre's bond is due to Carl rescuing and finding the boy two years ago but a nagging feeling tells him it is more than just hero worship between the two boys. A few days after Carl found him, he started affectionately calling the young boy his little brother about a week after Rick called Dre his son; the word naturally slipped out his mouth as if Dre truly belong to him and for Rick he did.

As time went on Dre grew close to other members of the group: Maggie, Glenn, Sasha, and Daryl but never as close to them like he is Rick and Carl. Rick knows he fell in love with the young boy from his sterling blue eyes, to his head of curls and especially his new penny colored skin that first night they brought him into the camp but it wasn't until later that he truly realize how much the young boy meant to him. He thought the boy was beautiful and he love him as much as he love Carl and Judith.

During the time Dre has been with Rick the young boy would cry for his mother, mostly at night when Carl or Rick, himself weren't there to put him to bed. He always thought it was strange that the young boy didn't cry for his mother more often, but Dre also has a steadfast faith that he going to find his mother. He always stated that his mother was lost and she'll find her way home soon or they'll find her. Rick never found the courage to tell Dre that his mother may be lost forever instead he holds onto the faith of the small child.

Not knowing the words but hearing the melody countless times before, Rick rocks and hums the wordless melody to Dre as he thinks for the millionth time about Dre's parents and what happened to them. He lulls Dre to sleep, once the young boy is peacefully asleep he takes his son upstairs and puts him to bed in the room he shares with Judith. Rick checks on his daughter, kissing her head the same moment he hears the front door open.

Rick softly closes the door to his young kids' room before he moves toward the front door, at the bottom of the steps Carl quietly makes his way up.

"Is he asleep?" Carl asks regarding Dre meeting his father halfway.

"Yea, he woke up but I just put him back down."

Carl nods looking anxiously behind his father up the steps.

"He wouldn't sleep in his room the nights you were gone. I had to have him and Judith in bed with me."

Carl nods again.

"He was going to go after you."

A smile lifts Carl's lips, "Sasha told me, said he even tried to sneak out."

Chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck, Rick nods. "I promised him I'll bring you home."

"Did he say he'll go with you?" Carl asks.

"He gets it from you," Rick sighs. He scratches his beard and looks up to his eldest, "I convinced him Judith needed him to stay if I left."

It's Carl's turn to chuckle, he looks up behind his father and shifts from leg to leg. "I'm going to check on them. I'll be back."

Rick pats Carl on the back as the young man bounds up the stairs to check in on his younger siblings.

A soft knock on the door pulls at Rick's attention, turning away from the stairs he moves towards the door and swings it open to find Glenn and Daryl. He exchanges brotherly hugs with two of his closest and most trusted friends, he hasn't seen them since Negan''s death circle. Both men went to Hilltop immediately following the brutal death of one of their good friend, Daryl to treat his wounded shoulder and Glenn to support his pregnant wife. Rick closes the door before the three men move deeper inside the house.

"How's Maggie doing?" Rick asks Glenn.

"She's fine, had a bladder infection but she's feeling better."

"The baby?"

The relief on Glenn's face answers Rick before the man does. "Fine, the baby is fine."

Rick pats Glenn on the back and nods at Daryl, "And you?"

He shrugs he shoulders and says, "I'll be alright. Carol?"

"Morgan's out looking for her," Risk says.

"I'll head out at first light," Daryl comments.

"Nah… you're still recovering. Morgan will find her. We were close."

Daryl grunts but nods his head.

"I heard that asshole Negan came early."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he nods releasing a deep sigh, "Yea, bastard said he wanted to bring Carl home early."

"Saw the fucktards, he left behind. Saw a couple of them patrolling the street," Daryl grimaces.

Rick only nods. The situation with Negan and his Savoir becoming increasingly more difficult and dangerous than what Rick initial thought.

"I'm surprised we're still meeting," Glenn comments.

"Abe got them some liquor, most of them are preoccupied drinking."

"Some thinking."

Rick almost cancel the meeting with several of his key people in the community gone but they need to discuss their course of action. The group came in small waves and in various directions using both the front and back doors to enter his house so not to arise too much suspicion from Negan's men.

Glenn, Daryl, Carl, Sasha, Abraham, Spencer, Rosita, Eugene, Father Gabriel, Tara, and a few others were in all seated in his living room; the lights were dim and the thick curtains drawl close. Several people are missing but this meeting has to happen, he can't wait for their return.

Once everyone gathers in the room Abraham speaks up, asking the question on everyone's mind, "What are we gonna do about this Negan asshole?"

"The prick showed up four days early," Spencer comments.

"He did… and he came with a group of men took what we set aside and walked the place like he owned it," Rosita says.

"He even commented about setting up a house here."

"We need to kill him."

"It's not going to be that easy," Eugene adds.

"He had snipers. I spotted at least three in the tree lines," Sasha comments.

"I counted at least thirty men today and those were the one we saw and not hidden."

"And they weren't all the same men from the clearing."

"What about the men he left behind?"

"What about when he returns?"

The gather starts to excitedly talk over each other, Rick stands by the window peeking through the curtains into the dark quiet streets of Alexandra and tunes the group out. He thinks about the gathering, he thinks about Negan and his bat Lucille. Rick thinks about his family, the people gather in his living room. Rick thinks about Lori. Rick thinks about Carl. He thinks about Judith. He thinks about Dre. Finally he allows his mind to go to _her_ , he closes his eyes and thinks about _her_.

The earlier flash of dark skin and dark hair flowing in the breeze plays behind his close eyes. He knows it is an inappropriate time to think about her but recently she's been plaguing his mind more often, coming and haunting his memories. He allows his thought to take him to a time before the end of the world. He allows his mind to wonder and he thinks about her. Normally he only allows thoughts of her and memories of their night together to bring him peace and confront in the quiet of the night but now more often the thoughts of her has been slowly taking hold all hours of the day needing the comfort of memories of her solace brings to him.

XxXx00000xXxX

Carl ignores the others as he watches his dad. He's lost in thought as he stares out the window. The groups continues to talk over and around each other as his dad says nothing.

"We need to attack him."

"We don't know where his compound is."

"Carl does."

"His head was covered going and coming back."

"He might be able to point us in the right direction."

"We can follow his group when they come for the rest of their stuff."

"How can we plan an attack with his men patrolling the streets?"

"We're prisoners in our own home!"

"We can set a trap, when they come… we can set a trap."

"That's not a bad idea, how do you supposed we do it?"

"I don't know but what other options do we have."

"We just need to kill Negan!"

"Yea! Like cutting the head of the snake."

"We kill the bastard and all the Saviors will fall in line."

"We can set a trap for him!"

The group continues for several minutes talking over each other until Abraham yells out to Rick.

"Rick... Rick! Rick!"

Carl watches as his dad snaps to attention.

"Yea?"

"What do you think we should do?" Tara asks.

Everyone's quiet for a time waiting on his response.

"Nothing."

Rick speaks so softly, Carl strains to hear him.

"What did you say?" Spencer asks incredulously.

"Can you repeat that bullshit?" Abraham barks.

"Nothing," Rick says louder, he turns to face the group. Carl watches his father as he walk deeper into the room.

"We do nothing."

"Rick!" Eric, Aaron's partner, shouts.

"Rick, you can't be serious."

Rick holds up his hand and everyone quiets down, "We gather supplies. We take inventory. We give the Saviors their due. That's all we do."

The room erupts with anger, everyone starts talking at once.

"What the shits? You want us to do nothing against this fucker?" Abraham yells.

"HE KILLED AARON!" Eric shouts leaping to his feet in anger.

"He's destroying the legacy that my parents built. You're allowing Alexandria to be destroyed!" Spencer laments.

"He came in here and TOOK half of our supplies!" Holly, Abraham's new girlfriend, yells.

"We're barely had enough to begin with!"

"HE KILLED AARON! HE KILLED THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!"

"He took your son and look how he returned him."

"ENOUGH!" Rick snaps.

Everyone falls silent as Rick moves to the center of the room, he takes a minute and gives a pointed glare to everyone in the room until he starts to speak again.

"Y'all wanted to talk. We talked. We are not doing anythang about the Saviors. We. Are. Not. They outnumber us at least five to one. Y'all said it yourselves, there were thirty men that we saw… thirty men with even more hidden off sight. Those men that we saw today were not the same one from the clearing. From what Carl tells me, he counted at least a hundred of them compared to our what fifty? Sixty? And half of our people can't even fight –

"They fought the walkers!"

"Fighting against a mindless walker and a man who's fighting for his life are different thangs. We don't know where to find them and Carl tells me from what he saw their place is fortified… if we attack them… if we do this it will be a slaughtered… so we do nothing."

The room is quiet and no one speaks a word for several minutes allowing Rick's words to sink in.

"We do nothing," Glenn says.

Carl looks over to see Daryl nodding along with Rick and Glenn.

"Rick's right. We'll be slaughtered if we attack," Sasha adds.

"We wait," Abraham grumbling in agreement.

"He killed Arron," Eric whimpers.

"Aaron's death will not be vain but right now… Rick is right. Morgan and Carol are still out there. Maggie can't fight. Daryl's hurt –"

"Ain't nothing but a scratch!" Daryl interrupts Glenn.

"You're still not one hundred percent," Sasha says with a sigh, "I would rather wait and have you at one hundred percent or close to it before we engage the Saviors."

"Daryl ain't the only one who knows how to fight! We can beat these assholes!" Spencer spouts.

"No, he's not and I'm not saying the people here can't fight but some of best shooters and fighters are not here: Morgan, Carol, Heath, Darla, and Andr-"

Holly cuts off Rosita snapping at the other woman, "You act as if we're weak! We don't need them to fight!"

Spencer nods, "If we plan well enough our small numbers will not matter!"

"All we need to do is kill Negan."

"It's not going to be that easy," Sasha says, "He's a hard man to get to."

"Carl says he has several wives... maybe one of the women can pretend to be interested in him and -"

"NO! We're not going to put anyone in that position!" Rick roars cutting off Holly.

"That plan can work!" Spencer defends.

"If we run out of options, I'm willing to -"

Daryl cuts off Sasha, "The hell you are not."

The archers and the sniper glare at each other for a moment before Eric speaks up.

"We can find another way. We just need to kill that bastard Negan then this all ends."

The groups divides themselves, some agreeing with waiting as Rick suggests others wanting to fight. The bickering continues until Carl stands and move towards his dad. The group falls silent turning their attention to the young man.

"My dad's right. I'm not saying it because he's my dad but because I saw Negan and the Savoir first hand. These Saviors kneel before Negan like he's their king, they live in fear of him but are also extremely loyal to him. I've seen him hot-iron a man because he slept with one of his wives; I've seen him almost beat a kid my age because he was talking too much," Carl pauses for a moment remembering Negan's choking and delivering several hard blows to Jose because the young kid was telling him about the various outpost. Carl also remembers Negan's cutting words about his face.

He swallows his anger and embarrassment before her continues, "Negan is an evil bastard and the Saviors will follow his every word. Yea, it is possible that if we kill Negan this all may end but I doubt it. Another 'negan' will rise up among their ranks. They live in a massive compound that's heavily guarded. There's over a hundred people who live there and most of them are men who are able to fight with a large stockpile of weapons. The Saviors have at least seven more outpost that have anywhere from fifteen to thirty men. That's roughly a hundred and forty more men, even with a good plan we will get slaughtered. We fight them now… we lose. We will lose. We need to wait. We need to."

"We wait," Abraham grunts.

Begrudgingly everyone slowly chime in and agrees to Rick's idea to wait, the fracture in the group remains but for the moment everyone agrees to wait. Once the decision is made, slowly one by one of the gather leave until it's only Daryl, Glenn, Sasha and Carl who remain with Rick.

"I'm going to go look for Carol."

"Morgan will find her," Rick comments.

"If I didn't run off that morning, I could have stopped her."

Daryl's voice is lace with guilt. Rick sighs with his head down, studying the floor of his living room with hands on his hip. He relents and nods his head.

"I'm going with you," Sasha volunteers.

Daryl starts to shake his head refusing her help when Sasha pokes him in his wounded shoulder.

"Shit! Sasha!" He growls moving away from her.

"I'm coming with you."

Daryl glares at her before he nods in agreement. Carl can tell his dad is not please with the idea of more of his people leaving Alexandria but he knows this needs to be done. Daryl will not rest until his close friend is back home.

"Try to be back in a week," Rick says. Daryl nods again, Rick informs Daryl the last place he seen traces of Carol and where he last left Morgan. Daryl and Sasha leave the house informing the others of their plan to leave for their search at first light.

"Jesus and the folks at Hilltop maybe able to help us..." Glenn starts.

"What about Gregory?"

Glenn sighs, rubs the back of his neck before he shrugs, "He will not like it… may be against it but Jesus is the one most of the people there listens to and respects. Jesus is already on our side with this… we may be able to convince them to team up with us against the Saviors."

"Do you think it can work?"

"It's worth a shot."

"You and Maggie work with Hilltop."

Carl walks to stand at his father's side when everyone else is gone. They stand at the open door watching the other disperse into the night.

"We wait," Carl says.

"We wait."

"And when they think we've fallen into line and become docile?" Carl asks.

"We attack," Rick answers.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Two Weeks After the Visit_

He watches her enter the kitchen with a towel wrap around her neck catching the stray drops of water from her blonde hair, still wet from her recent shower. She wears a loose fitting cargo pants and one of his shirt. He shouldn't feel the prickle of annoyance at the sight of her in his shirt but he does at the center of his chest.

Her blue eyes comes into contract with his and they light up. Rick should be happy to see her, the last time they saw each other was the day after Negan's death circle over two weeks ago. She, Darla, and Heath left Alexandria almost immediately in search of a warehouse distributing center that was supposed to be near them. The three returned earlier in the afternoon, their search yielding no fruit.

After two weeks without her, he should miss her yet there was an odd peace with the lack of her presence. His eyes slowly takes her in, he can appreciate her beauty; she's a beautiful woman with her shoulder length wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, warm smile and fair skin but instead of feeling a peace with her presence a sense of trepidation tightens his chest, a vise slowly turning with each moment spent together.

Rick forces a smile, pushing the annoyance from his chest as she makes her approach. When she reaches him, she places a hand on his chest and leans up against him. He stifles a sigh and pulls her into a hug. The trepidation and false peace causes his heart to race and the vise to tighten to a painful degree.

Holding each other close, she lifts her head and caresses his cheek. She leans up, automatically he meets her halfway and kisses her. The kiss is short and reassuring, the vise in his chest loosens slightly. Rick pulls away from the kiss as he hears other steps approaching. With his hands on her waist, he looks over her shoulder to see Carl standing at the entryway of the kitchen.

The young man's face tightens with a mix of anger and annoyance at the sight of him and the woman, the vise tightens again as he tenses from the sight of his son. The woman turns to see what grab Rick's attention from her. She releases a tired sigh at the sight of his son.

"Andrea," he bites out her name.

"Hi Carl!" Andrea says, "I'm glad to see you're okay. We were all worried about you."

"I'm fine."

"We're glad you made it back safely," Rick offers stepping completely out of his embrace with Andrea.

"I'm glad to be home."

"Home? Don't you live with Carol? Shouldn't you be there?"

"Carl!" Rick chides his son.

"I mean home as in Alexandria, Carl," Andrea clarifies.

He grunts in annoyance before he turns his attention to his father, "Dre and Judith are both down for the night, I'm heading over to Glenn's to see Maggie and Enid."

Rick nods, he glances at his watch and then back at Carl, "Be back in an hour."

Carl nods, he shoots Andrea another scowl before he leaves.

"He's warming up to me," Andrea says.

"Less scowling that's good."

"I don't know why he doesn't like me… we were once fine, friends even and then…" Andrea sighs.

Rick swallows his own sigh knowing the reason for Carl's dislike of Andrea has to do with their relationship. While it was not all of a sudden, Carl was not completely happy at the discovery of his relationship with Andrea. Rick recalls his conversation with Carl about Andrea.

 _"_ _I want you to be happy, Dad. You deserve to be happy. I just think she's not good for you. Dre doesn't like her and Judith cries each time she holds her."_

 _"_ _And you?"_

 _"_ _She's annoying and I don't trust her," Carl responds honestly._

"He'll come around," Rick offers weakly, not knowing if he truly believe the words.

"Hopefully."

Andrea shrugs off Rick's discomfort and sits at the kitchen table dropping the wet towel in an empty chair. He glares at the discarded towel but doesn't comment instead he moves further into the kitchen and places his mind in order. Knowing she wants to talk about his plan to wait, Rick fixes Andrea a quick sandwich trying to stall the conversation already knowing Andrea doesn't support his plan to wait. Once the sandwich is made, he hands the plate to the blonde and sits across from her.

"Holly told me about your decision to wait," He can hear the hints of disapproval in her voice she tries to masks it but it rings clear, "How long do you plan on waiting?"

"Until the time is right."

"Carol and the others are back and they found that community, the Kingdom. I heard your meeting with their leader, King Ezekiel went well. He sounds like another nut job but they are willing to join our fight against the Saviors. Jesus was able to convince the people at Hilltop to fight with us so why are we waiting?"

"Many of those people are untrained. They need to be trained and we need to come up with a plan that assures our survival and winning."

He watches her face twist with displeasure as she nibbles on her sandwich. The vise tightens, he finds breathing more difficult.

"I know not everyone is well trained but as much as Carl told us about Negan and the Savoir I believe we are ready. We can win this, Rick."

"But at what cost? How many people need to die?"

"This is war. People die in war, Rick."

He nods his head knowing the truth of her words, yet it didn't lift the weight of the Alexandrian's souls he carries on his shoulder. He knows that people are going to die, but he wasn't going to send them off to their slaughter either.

"I will not send people to their death. These people are not well trained and they deserved a fighting chance when we do go to war."

Andrea clenches her teeth. She's quiet for a moment before she speaks again, "What else did Carl tell you about Negan and the Savior. He must have a weakness!"

Rick opens his mouth to tell her about the woman who helped Carl, the woman with the sword, Michonne. There's a flood a familiarity at the thought of the woman, Michonne, a nagging sense of knowing that he can't reconcile. It mixes with another tightening in his chest at the thought of telling Andrea about Michonne, an irrational sense of needing to protect the mysterious woman. Licking his lips and shaking his head slightly he says: "Carl said he has several wives but from his treatment of them he doesn't care too much about the."

"Is there a time limit to this waiting game you're playing?"

"As long as we need to."

The frustration is evident on her face. She places her half eaten sandwich down before she moves to stand and Rick moves along with her knowing he should try to stop her, he should try to make her understand. As Andrea starts to leave, Rick grabs her hand.

"Andrea, wait-"

Andrea snatches her arm away from him, "They killed Aaron. He bashed Aaron's head in… in front of all of us. He had us on our knees as he taunted us. He took your son and returned him battered and bruised. He left men here and had us prisoners in our own home. He taunts us at every fucking opportunity. They're taking half of our stuff and leaving us practically starving but we wait?"

"Andrea…" He says halfheartedly reaching for her again.

She moves away from his reach and moves towards her rifle, "I have watch."

"You just got back," Rick weakly replies, another halfhearted attempt to soothe her.

"I have watch… I'll see you later," she says as she starts for the front door. She scoops up her tennis shoes with one hand and breezes out the door with her rifle in the other.

As the door shuts behind her, the tightening vise in his chest loosens. He inhales deeply and finds breathing easier.

* * *

 **A/N: Once again thank you for reading! I know some people may have caught the change with Andre's name from PJ to Dre. This was done on purpose and it will be explained later on.**

 **Next Chapter already up and guess what... RICK and MICHONNE FINALLY MEET!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello! Thank you all for reading! I appreciate you taking the time out and reading my story. Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **L4yers of Lovers**

 _Two Months After the Visit_

"Are you coming with us tomorrow?"

"No."

Michonne realize her mistake, she answers too quickly yet she doesn't mend her answer or tries to give him an explanation. They're alone in the gathering room and Negan lounges on his throne eyes press onto Michonne watching her pace in front of him as if a cage animal. She feels like a cage animal.

It's been two month since she seen him, since she seen Rick, now he plagues her mind. He blights her every waking thoughts and finds his way in her subconscious when she sleeps. She feels the burn of his gaze upon her two months after looking into those blue eyes. She feels his touches ghosting over her skin in a rippling affect. He infects every fiber of her being and she only wants to rip her flesh away from her body. She wants to throw away every memory of him. She feels like a cage animal in her own body unable to escape the memories of him. The memories of her son, of their sweet little boy.

"I'm going to go out again."

He sighs audibly, "You just got fucking back!"

She only grunts in response.

"Where the fuck do you go?"

"Nowhere. Everywhere. I just walk. I clear my mind."

"And you can't fucking do that here?"

"No," She answers honestly.

"This isn't a prison."

She pauses, glancing at Negan with clear eyes for a brief moment before she starts pacing again, "I know."

"You've been doing a lot of that lately."

She grunts in response again.

"Ever since Alexandria," Negan observes.

Michonne fights the urge to pause and look at him again. She hates how in tune they are with each other sometimes. She continues her agitated pace as if he hasn't spoken.

"Come with us tomorrow."

"No."

"Fucking why, Michonne?"

She stops her pacing but doesn't turn to face him as she answers, "Because I don't like that fucking place."

"Why? Does it remind you of before the Turn? A housewife waiting at the door for her husband to return with a house full of kids."

"I didn't live in a house like that, I was never a housewife."

"But you wanted to be."

"No, I never had that desire to be kept."

"Yea, you're more of an equally yoke type woman," Negan says with a chuckle.

Michonne only grunts as she returns to her pacing.

"Your husband-"

"Boyfriend."

"He didn't buy you a big ass house? What type of man doesn't get his woman anything her heart desires?" She doesn't response to his probing of her past. With her silence, Negan continues, "I guess you don't miss him much."

"He was weak. He deserve to die."

"Your chil-"

She whirls facing him with the full weight of her dark stare. Negan doesn't finish his sentence. She never told him. She never told anyone of Andre. She wants to keep the memories of him solely for herself, yet Negan somehow knows she lost a child. She guess it is how she always react so violently when harms is done to any child.

He takes the full weight of her dark glare with practice ease. He nods and doesn't push the subject of her lost child anymore. Negan stands from his throne just as Michonne turns her back to him. He moves until he's behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulls her until she's against his chest. He presses his palm on her flat abdomen and drops his head until his lips touches the top of her ears.

His unexpected softness always catches her by surprise. When he's real with her, when he doesn't wear that shit eating taunting grin. It causes the dark energy ball of attraction to blaze and stir deep within her stomach before settling at the apex of her thighs.

"But you wanted it," He starts speaking low, "Maybe not be a housewife but a part of you wanted it. Wanted to have a house like those in Alexandria, children, and a man who adores you. You think it is too late to have it but it is not," Negan whispers in her ears, pressing her tightly against him as he hand gently caresses her flat stomach. "Say the word Michonne, just say the word and I'll take Alexandria for you. I'll place a baby in your belly and have you barefoot and pregnant in one of those houses in a matter of months. Just say the word."

Michonne trembles in his arm at the images his speaks. It draws itself in her mind eyes, barefoot and pregnant in one of those Alexandrian homes waiting for her husband. She closes her eyes and allows the image to take hold, she watches her husband walk up to their home a wide smile on his face but his eyes are not brown like Negan's their blue. Blue eyes stare up at her, Rick stare up at her. Laughter pulls her eyes away from him, she looks and see Andre smiling and laughing, holding onto Carl's hand as the two brothers walk up the steps with their father a step behind. Her hands drops to her round belly as a flutter of kicks melts with the flutter in her heart at the sight of her family.

The image is too much, she drowns in the sorrow of that never becoming a reality. Unable to bear the image, Michonne snaps her eyes open and stumbles out of Negan's arm.

"No!"

"But you want it!"

She effectively shuts her emotions down as she pushes that image of what will never be away from her mind's eyes. She focuses on something else as she puts distance between Negan and herself, "Miss Edna has not been feeling well,"

Negan grumbles at the mention of the older woman and Michonne changing the subject, "Miss Edna is fucking fine. The old bat is going to outlive us all fucking roaches included."

"Even if she does, she still needs some antibiotic… see if the Alexandrian have any medicine take what you need but do not take it all."

Negan gives her a hard unimpressed look. This Negan, the hard unapologetic asshole leader of the Savior, this Negan is who Michonne knows best. This is the Negan who helps keep their violent dark attraction at bay.

"If they get sick and die then who will do all the work for you?"

"Taking medicine to give to that old woman is fucking asinine. It should be fucking kept for the young and able. I should just fucking kill her and be done with it."

"Like you said, she'll probably outlive us all but if something happens to her…" Michonne doesn't finish her sentence allowing it to fall in the space between the two of them.

He clenches his teeth and stalks towards her, "Is that a threat woman?"

She smirks unfazed, "It's a warning."

He stops once he stands in front of her, Negan cups her cheek and caresses her. His earlier softness returns as his hazel eyes dance while they take her in. Michonne almost crumble, Negan's offer not what she truly wants but the softness in his eyes almost causes her to settle. She knows she can never replace Andre yet she battles with herself, knowing what Negan offers will help ease the crippling pain of his loss. Mike was weak and for what he allowed to happen to her son her deserved to die. She knows if she ever took Negan up on his offer and she did have his child, Negan would move heaven and earth to protect her and their child and a part of her is tempted to give in.

"Michonne…" He starts wanting to revisit earlier parts of their conversation leaning into her.

"If Miss Edna dies-"

"She won't."

Negan leans in to captures her lips against his, Michonne pushes away almost as quickly as his lips greet her.

"Just say the word."

A flash of the haunting image passes across her vision, her chest tightens in longing. Temptation pulls at her to give in to his offer. She's trap between the two. Michonne doesn't acknowledge his words as she turns and leaves feeling his eyes on her.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _The Following Morning_

Rick lies awake staring at the ceiling. His mind on the impending Savior's visit. He's not sure when they are due to come but he knows it is soon. It has been two months since their first encounter with Negan and the full force of his Saviors. He knows the Saviors didn't stick to a set schedule, the first time they came to Alexandria it was four days earlier than expected. Surprise at their arrival, Rick was not bothered because their early arrival meant Carl's return.

The second visit from the group with the foul mouth leader came several days later, Rick was expecting them to arrive midday as the previous visit. Instead the group arrived several hours pass sunset. Negan had Rick and his people load their vans while other's set up a house for them to stay the night. He didn't sleep that night, he watched over the house Negan and his people took up.

He watched as loud music poured from the house and Negan's men drank and ate their food until the wee-hours of the morning. By mid-morning, Negan demanded breakfast for him and his men before their departure. Rick wanted to kill him. Rick wanted to take out his colt, aim at the center of the man's head and pull the trigger but instead he coaxed several of the Safe-Zone women to prepare a feast for Negan and his men. Once Negan and his men were well feed, they gather the remaining items and departed back for their home.

The third visit was approximately a month ago, once again the Saviors didn't arrive at the appointed date or time. They came mid-afternoon two days after their original appointed date this time sans Negan. This visit significantly shorter than the other visits but not any less intrusive. The Saviors entered ever house in Alexandria under the guise of making sure, Alexandra was not _hiding_ any supplies from the Saviors. They tore apart several community members' homes in their futile search. Once their search was complete, they loaded their allocated supplies and left heading towards their home. The invasive visit caused a massive uproar among the community. People were demanding action and retribution for the Saviors' behavior. After a community meeting, Rick was able to calm most of the Alexandrian, telling them to trust his plan to wait. There was still a large internal pocket of people who wanted to act immediately.

It's been almost a month since, the Saviors' last visit and somehow Rick knows the Saviors' fourth visit will happen this day. He releases a sigh and starts to shift from the bed when a hand falls to his chest. He pauses as the head full of blonde hair falls onto his chest. The woman he sometimes allow in his bed moans as she cuddles into him, lifting her head and placing several soft kiss on his bare chest.

"Mmm… up already?" She coos as she places more kisses on his chest. She presses her nude body into his. Rick allows the ministrations until he feels her hand start down his body to his manhood. He stops her hand, her head snaps up and she looks at him with blue eyes. Trepidation weighs heavily upon his chest, he tries to push the unease from his eyes as looks at her forcing a smile across his face.

"I have to get up."

"It's early, stay with me."

"They're coming today," He says gently pushing her off of him. He swings his leg over the edge and moves away from her. He doesn't have to explain who she knows, sighing her acknowledgement.

"How can you be sure?"

"Today feels… different. Something gonna happen today."

"What?"

He releases his own sigh, "I don't know."

"We're still not going to fight them?" She asks. Rick hears her anger and frustration rising, it mirrors his own at her lack of trust and confidence in his plan.

"No, not yet."

"Rick, we have the numbers! We have the mole inside their compound! We have the ammos! We need to strike now!"

"No, not yet," He repeats softly pinching the bridge of his nose his ire increasing.

"What are you waiting for?" She yells leaping from his bed pulling the sheet with her. "It has been two months! At the beginning I knew why you were waiting but now… help me understand why we are still waiting. What are we waiting for? We can fight and win. I know we can and this… this continuous waiting is not making any sense. People are starting to talk... Rick. They think you're afraid. They think you're weak. They think you're unfit to lead us. They… people are starting to talk. If Shane was-"

Rick sits at attention at the sound of his deceased best friend's name. She quickly cuts herself off realizing her mistake. This moment clarifies every flaw in their relationship.

She releases a sigh and sits beside him, pulling the sheet and wrapping it around her nude body. Rick tries not to tense but fails when she rests her head on his shoulder. He knows she feels him tense but she ignores it.

"Rick, I'm sorry I didn't mean to say… I'm sorry… I'm just trying to understand why we're still waiting."

He doesn't reply, instead he allows the uncomfortable silences to settle between them. As she moves to wrap her arms around his torso, he finally finds his voice.

"Andrea, just trust me."

"I'm trying," She says before quickly amending her statement, "I do."

Rick pushes himself to his feet and starts toward the bathroom when she calls after him.

"Hey Rick?"

He pauses not facing her. She shuffles off the bed and moves towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she presses her breast into his back.

"Are we okay?"

His muscles tense at her question, they are far from okay but he doesn't want to have a long discussion with her on how to fix them. Rick knows they are broken far pass any repairs and no amount of talking will fix them and from the hold Andrea has on him, he knows she knows the truth as well.

"We're fine," He lies.

She squeezes him tightly before she relaxes a fraction swallowing his lie with a heavy sigh. Rick pulls her arms from his torso and walks out of her embrace keeping his back to her the entire time.

XxXx00000xXxX

There's a knock on her door, before she has a chance to call out the door swings open and Negan stands at the entrance. She's not surprise at his appearance at her door, more so of the time. Her eyes goes to the bedside clock, it is barely five o'clock in the morning, too early for Negan to be up and about.

"Michonne," He breathes as his eyes roam her half dress body; she stands in her black lace bra and black polka-dot underwear in front of the unexpected visitor. She's unperturbed as Negan ogles her.

"What?" Michonne asks.

"Change of plans," Negan says as he watches her. She reaches for her jeans and slips them on, the snug fit causes her to wiggle into them and her breast gives a soft jiggle as she does. Negan stares on in appreciation.

"Damn, you're fucking beautiful."

She ignores the compliment, "What, Negan?"

"When are you going to marry me?" Negan asks.

"When you get rid of all of your other wives," Michonne says buckling her jeans.

"Is that all that it'll take?" Negan asks walking deeper into Michonne's room.

Michonne doesn't answer she reaches for her tank top as Negan steps closer to her.

"You'll really marry me if I get rid of the others?" He asks coming to a stop before her.

"No, I'll just find another reason to decline your proposal."

Chortling softly he palms her cheek and stares into her eyes, "Have you thought of my offer? I'll take all of Alexandria for you."

She looks into his hazel orbs, thinking of his offer. She wants to lie and say no but the thought of Alexandria remained on her mind all night. Just like the previous day her vision was not with Negan but with the blue eye man, Rick Grimes. Her eyes glaze over at the thought of him; Negan leans down and takes Michonne lips against his own. She tenses for a brief second before she relaxes her lips as he presses her against his body, Michonne closes her eyes and leans into him, returning his kiss. He growls against her soft lips as he deepens the kiss.

The dark energy of lust manifest with each passing sweep of the kiss. It thrums deep within Michonne as she allows the kiss to deepen, she opens her mouth as his tongue seeks her. Her mind wages war, battling between the image of Negan and Rick as her body comes awake in a rush of need. It's been a while since she willingly been with a man. She aches at her apex at the thought of being filled by Negan's hardness, at the thought of being taken by him all the while as images of her night with Rick rampages within her mind. Negan grows aggressive, he palms her breast and Michonne moans into his mouth. He lifts her off the ground and her legs wrap around his waist while her arms goes around his neck.

He presses her against the nearby wall, his hand eagerly roams her body. Michonne allows the touches and caress, the kiss deepening. Negan's hand finds her bra clasps, he skillfully undo it and pulls the material off her flesh. His lips pull away from her lips and falls to her neck, he lifts her higher and lines his mouth with her breast. He greedily sucks on a nipple while he squeezes the other breast.

A long moan leaves her mouth; she feels herself become wet with each flick of his tongue. Michonne closes her eyes at the sensation and rolls her head back, her hand pressing Negan's head into her chest as he laps at her sensitive nipples. He gently bites one and Michonne throws her head back with another moan. Images of blue eyes gazing up at her as he lavishes her breast sears into her mind's eye. She feels the ghost of his hard determine strokes drumming pleasures from her core.

His hand drops to her recently buckle jeans and pulls at the zipper. Michonne's body screams anticipating the touch, needing him deeply inside of her. The sensible part of her takes hold of her lust laden mind, her hand stop the progression of his. It all becomes too much. Negan's touches and images of Rick, memories of him. She can't continue. Negan pulls away from her breast to look into her eyes with a questioning and pleading look.

"Michonne."

While his voice is soft and full of desire her is hard and distant, "Negan."

Pushing Negan away, he looks disappointed but releases her; she unlocks her legs and slips to the ground. She watches Negan adjust his harden member, she has no doubt as soon as she departs he'll wake one of his wives to take care of him. Adjusting and re-clasping her bra, she slips her tank top on and re-buckle her jeans before sitting on the edge of her bed to lace up her boots.

"You said there was a change of plans?"

"You're going to Alexandria."

Michonne snaps to attention and looks at him wide eyes, "NO!"

"I wasn't fucking asking."

"Is this because I won't sleep with you?"

He rakes his eyes over her body before stopping at her eyes, "This was always the plan."

"I'm not fucking going!"

"And I ain't asking for your fucking opinion and I wasn't fucking asking!"

"I will burn that fucking place down!"

Negan takes a menacing step towards Michonne, she bares her teeth and glares at him.

"Fuck you're sexy when you're mad," he says with his eyes fill with lust.

"Fuck you!"

"One day woman." Negan growls as his eyes crawls over her again.

"I'm not going."

"You forget I know you, Michonne. We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Negan says with a sadistic smirk pulling at the lips Michonne was just kissing.

"I thought this wasn't a prison."

"It is not but you will do as I say and I'm fucking saying you're going to Alexandria."

Michonne glares at him but says nothing.

"Good girl. Plan is gather the supplies and do recon to make sure the Alexandrian are staying in line with the new world order. Karson has point."

"If Karson has point why am I going?"

"I need someone I trust. Something ain't right with one of these motherfuckers."

"The Alexandrian or your Saviors?"

"Both."

XxXx00000xXxX

The sun has barely made its debut for the day as the caravan of Saviors nears Alexandria. Michonne sits in the back seat as Connor drives up to Alexandria gate with Karson riding shot gun. It's been about a month since the Saviors last visit to the community. A little over nine weeks since Negan, Lucille one of their people and started the one sided business with the Alexandrian.

It is barely seven in the morning when they arrive, as soon as they are spotted by the Alexandrian, there's an exposition of activity at the gate but it does not open.

"OPEN THE GATE ASSHOLE!" Connor yells out, sticking his head out the window and yelling at the guards at the gate. When the gate doesn't open up as soon as Connor will like, he lays on the car's horn. He follows the long horn cry with several punches of the horn.

"Enough, I'm sure they get the point we're here," Karson says and then adds, "Plus you'll draw the roamer out from the woods."

"Fuck you and fuck these bastards, they all deserve to die," Connor says as he lays on the horn again.

Soon the gates to the community pulls open, Connor releases his hold against the horn, and drives into the community. When the last of the caravan car is inside the community, the gate closes behind them.

She watches from the back seat as he swaggers to meet them, Rick Grimes. At the sight of him Michonne's pulse quickens. She tries to calm herself down. He stops several feet from the first car and calls out to them.

"Y'all earlier, sun's barely up!" He drawls. A shiver runs across her chest at the sound of his voice. Rage balms the shiver and rise up within her. She's conflicted. In equal parts she wants to embrace him and kill him.

Connor puts the car in park, shuts the engine off and jumps out the car the same moment Karson starts out the door, he turns and looks back at her.

"You coming?" He asks.

Her eyes narrow upon him, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist she nods, "Give me a minute."

He nods and slips out the car.

"We got other shit to do, best to get this shit out of the way first," Connor shouts at Rick.

"A storm is coming, want to get what's owed to us and be on our way before it hits," Karson explains. Rick nods and signals the men to follow him; more of his people start to fill the street as other Savior exits their vehicles. Several flank Connor and Karson, while others fan out deeper into the community. Once they're out of eyesight, Michonne slips out the car.

XxXx00000xXxX

Rick's front door practically explodes open as Heath enters his house.

"They're here!" He shouts breathing heavily.

Rick nods, already receiving the message from Carl and having heard the loud horn at the community's gate.

"Need help?" the young man asks as he takes in Rick holding onto a squirming Judith in his arms and Dre's hand.

"No, go get the others up and in position," He instructs. Footsteps sounds behind him, he doesn't have to look up to know they belong to Andrea.

Heath nods once, turns on his heel and sprints out of the house. Andrea steps in his line of sight, they lock eyes briefly as Andrea fixes her shirt. She gives him a nod before rushing out the door, needing to get to her sniper spot. Rick releases Dre's hand and grab a bag filled with supplies for his two young children before grabbing onto Dre's hand again. The three starts out the front door shutting it behind them before as they rush down the steps of their home.

"Daddy, who's here?" Dre asks calmly jogging to keep up with Rick's fast pace.

"Visitors."

"Can I meet them?"

"No, they're bad people."

"They're not nice?"

"No, Dre. They're mean."

"Are they going to hurt us?"

"I will not let them," Rick says rushing to get to their destination but taking the time to answer Dre's questions.

"Me and Judith going to hide like last time?"

"Yes, remember you have to protect your sister."

"I'm a big boy! I can't protect her like you and Carl protect us," Dre says with determination set to his blue eyes. The fearless look causes Rick to briefly smiles, his young son giving him strength and courage.

They reach Ms. Niedermeyer's house to find Maggie and Enid waiting for them on the older woman's front steps. Maggie is about five months pregnant, her growing belly slightly hidden by the oversize shirt she wears. Rick kisses Judith before handing her to Maggie, he then hands their supply bag to Enid. Rick drops down on his haunches and embraces his young son.

As Rick releases Dre, the young boy holds onto Rick's cheek and stares into his eyes. With unwavering blue eyes so similar to Carl, he says with the confident of a grown man, "Everything will be okay Daddy."

He kisses his son's forehead before he instructs him to obey Maggie and Enid. Once the small group is inside the house, Rick sprints towards the front gate. Carl sidles up next to him in an ease jog.

"There's ten cars like last time and I didn't see Negan," Carl informs him.

"Good, get to your post."

Carl nods and peels away from his father. Rick slows his pace and catches his breath once he nears the gate, he watches as Holly closes the gate as the last of the caravan of Saviors pull into Alexandria.

"Y'all earlier, sun's barely up!" He drawls.

The first car of the caravan comes to a complete stop, the engine shuts off and the driver and passenger doors both opens.

A bald man with a scarred face steps out the car, he spits on the ground before answering Rick, "We got other shit to do, best to get this shit out of the way first."

"A storm is coming, want to get what's owed to us and be on our way before it hits," a tall black man with a thick beard says as he steps out the passenger side.

Rick glances at the car the two men emerge from for a brief moment he sense someone else is in the dark tinted vehicle; he nods and signals the men to follow him wanting to get this visit over with as soon as possible.

XxXx00000xXxX

"How many men? Over."

"At least twenty in the clearing. Over."

"I count ten snipers. Over."

Rick nods even though Darla and Sasha can't see his actions. "Same as last time? Over."

Sasha is the first to reply, "Same snipers, over."

"Different men but yea… same as last time. Over."

"Notes any changes, over and out."

"Got it. Over and out."

"Roger that. Over and out."

Rick returns the long distance radio to its hiding place before he starts back towards the Saviors loading their ill-gotten supplies into their vehicles. This visit shorter and less invasive as the prior ones.

As he turns the corner, he runs into a solid body. He throws out his arms, hold onto their shoulders and holds the person steady thinking it is an Alexandrian.

"Hey, are you ok-"

Rick stops mid-sentence as he stares into the eyes of the person he ran into. Deep dark brown eyes belonging to a person thought he lost years ago.

She is thinner but her face is the same, she's as beautiful as ever. She's breathtakingly gorgeous. Her hair... dreadlocks… are longer. Her dark skin looks lush and enticing. Her lips full and begging to be kiss. It is her eyes that changed the most. When he first met her, they were light and full of life but now that seem to capture the glow of death. Yet it takes nothing away from her compelling beauty.

She stumbles away from his touch and Rick steps after her praying this is not a dream, he found her. He finally found her, all thoughts of Negan and preparing for war dissipates as he soaks her presences in.

"You," Rick whispers.

"You," She replies.

Rick takes another step as she retreats.

"Michonne?"

* * *

 **A/N: Seriously... you thought I was going to make this easy for you all? *laughs and rubs hands together like an evil scientist***

 **Leave your thoughts (and please try to be nice... even if I'm not with my cliffhanger). Once again thank you for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello All! First I would like to say: thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for reading! Thank you for commenting (your comments give me life), thank you for favoring, and thank you for following this story. THANK YOU! It is all truly appreciated!**

 **Second: WARNING - TRIGGERS (Mention and Implied)**

 **Third: Enjoy!**

* * *

 **A Monster's L4yers**

It is the scrape of steel dragging across the concrete that cause the ripple effect of silence to descend upon the gather crowd. The steel tip of her katana grinds against the concrete as she slowly approached the kneeling man, the jovial grin falls from his face at her approach his crude laughter dying upon his lips. A chill of death hangs in the air as the crowd willingly parts at her approach, her steps are slow and measure. Her unsheathe sword drags a step behind her as if weighing her down. A look of unadulterated wrath mix with crippling pain contorts her beautiful face. She appears as an angel of death, ethereal and deadly void of any humanity in her brown eyes. An exquisite monster.

 _What happened to you?_ He thinks.

XxXx00000xXxX

Michonne's only thought and desire is to stay away from Rick Grimes. To stay away from seeing his face, hearing his voice and the onslaught of memories the mere presence of the man evokes. The memories are not as bad as the first time she saw him. The crippling pain of the past. This time she's mentally prepare to see him and better prepare to deal with the memories, yet she still feels the weight of them crushing her with every passing moment in Alexandria. Negan's words loops in her mind, the image he paints of her being barefoot and pregnant in one of the houses in Alexandria. She can see those images of fantasy race across her thoughts as she remembers the feel of Negan's lips upon hers with Rick's eyes flashing in her mind eyes. She feels conflicted which causes her to feel out of control and leads to her anger igniting.

She grinds her teeth together and moves aimlessly among the shadows of Alexandria. A part of her mind tugs at her to complete the assignment Negan asks of her but Michonne is distracted. She instead mentally maps out the layout of the community and commits it to memory.

Briefly stepping away from the shadows she feels as if she's being watched, Michonne pauses and looks up at a particular pale mint house with white shutters and a large patio. Her eyes watches the curtains on the second floor for several seconds, it flutters as if someone was just there a moment before but quickly moved away when the flutter stops Michonne continues on. She moves off the open street and onto a smaller side road, she nears a church when she feels a presence behind her.

"Why are you following me?" She asks into the cool morning air. She turns and waits for the person to step out from the shadow of the morning sun. It's Austin, Negan's blonde hair and green eyes pet, she should have guess it would be him following behind her.

"You're getting rusty, I've been on you since you got out the car."

She isn't rusty, she is distracted but she refuses to tell the young boy that instead her dark brown eyes take in the unimpressive boy and asks, "Did Negan tell you to follow me?"

Annoyance pricks at her skin at the thought of Negan sending this amateur to follow her, especially when he enlisted her help to find the potential traitor in the Saviors' ranks.

"Nah, Negan ain't say shit about this. This is all me!" He boast proudly.

The annoyance remains, shifting focus from Negan to the young man. Her eyebrows rises in question, "Then why are you following me? Curiosity? Blackmail? Our mutual dislike for each other is the same so I know you do not care for me."

"You're wrong…" He starts.

Michonne feels her face fall slightly in surprise.

"I hate you," He finishes.

She allows herself a small smirk.

"Dislike is not a strong enough word, I hate you. If you were on fire I wouldn't even spit on you! I would light a cigarette from your flames and watch you burn."

Her smirk transfer to a half-smile, she's un-bothered by the image he paints or his meaningless threats. "Good to know but it doesn't explain why you're following me"

"Because Negan likes you!"

The small smile falls slightly as her eyebrows inches to her hairline waiting for him to elaborate.

"I don't know why he likes you… fuck you're not even pretty but I figured if I can find out what been causing you to be even more of a bitch and tell Negan so I could earn some points."

"And move back to being Negan's favorite pet," Michonne finishes for him. Ever since Austin's fight with Carl the boy has been outcast from Negan's inner circle. Austin scowls at her statement but doesn't correct her.

"Negan's personal ass-kisser," She taunts him.

"One day Negan is going to see what a worthless bitch you are and when he does I'm going to make sure to end you."

Another meaningless threat, Michonne is done with this conversation her annoyance prickling her resolve to not severely hurt the boy. A sinister smile pierces her lips as she closes the distance between them showing him she is still un-bothered by his threat and empty words.

"I'll give you two choices. You can stop following me and get to your designated post or you can lose several fingers possibly a hand."

They exchange cold glares at each other for half a minute before Austin relents and looks away unable to hold onto Michonne's dark gaze. He bares his teeth at her as he moves away adding space between them.

"Don't say I never gave you anything," She calls out after him. His shoulders' stiffens but he doesn't turn to face her. Michonne allows herself a moment before she continues on her aimless walk around Alexandria.

As she dips from one street into an alleyway between to large houses she turns the corner and runs into a tall solid body and immediately she knows it is him, Rick Grimes. Somehow his scent remained the same after seven years, it floods of senses and invades her pores. His presence soaking into her, completely and overwhelmingly filling hers. Her body rages awake at the brief contact. He holds her steady by her shoulder and with wide blue eyes he takes her in, the recognition as clear and bright as the hue of his eyes.

He whispers, "You."

She breathes, "You."

XxXx00000xXxX

"Dre get away from the window," Maggie calls out while changing Judith's diaper. She looks down at the toddler and coos to her, "We're going to need to potty train you soon."

Dre doesn't move from his spot in front of the window, his eyes wide as he takes in the mostly empty street. It is still early in the day but the unwanted visitors keeps the majority of the Alexandrian indoors. Dre searches the street for the mean visitors his father told him about.

"Dre, honey please get away from the window."

He still doesn't move. Maggie finishes with Judith's diaper, she sits the little girl on her clean bottom handing her red cups before she moves towards the window.

At the same moment Maggie lifts Dre away from the window the young boy's eyes fall onto a familiar figure stepping into view.

"Mama?"

"Honey, you know my name. I'm Maggie," She says closing the curtain behind her with one hand as she holds onto a squirming Dre.

"No Mama Maggie! Mama!"

Maggie wraps both arms around Dre and gives him a tight squeeze as she moves away from the window towards Judith and Alice, the nine year old daughter of a valuable Alexandrian Darla.

"I'm sorry honey, she's not here," Maggie says comforting the young boy. She releases him from her hug and places him down on the floor. As soon as his feet touches the floor Dre rushes to the window and snatches the curtains open.

"Mama?"

Maggie is a step behind him looking down into the street, an unfamiliar young man with blonde slinks off the main street and disappear around the corner into the morning sun's shadow. She guesses he's a Savoir sneaking around. She makes a mental note to warn Glenn and Rick.

"See Dre, no one is there. I know you miss your mommy but Carl and your Daddy will be back soon, okay?"

Dre's eyes dart up and down the street before he looks at Maggie. He nods his head, a few curls fall across his forehead and into his eye. Maggie sweeps them from his face and kisses the boy's forehead before closing the curtains and moving Dre towards Judith and Alice. Both girls sits quietly as Judith plays with her red cups while Alice plays with her dolls. Dre has a wolverine action figure given to him from Carl that he picks up as he sits across from Judith. The three young kids play quietly for several minutes when Enid arrives announcing she brought breakfast.

"I'm glad you're here. I have to use the bathroom… this baby is sitting on my bladder," Maggie says. Enid nods and smiles at Maggie pregnant frame, she recently started to show a small bump under her loose fitting shirt. She is approximately five months. Maggie smiles at the kids as rubs her extended belly before leaving the room.

"I'm hungry," Alice announces as she moves to her feet to where Enid starts putting together their breakfast.

"I got peanut butter sandwich, peaches, and juice."

"I don't like peanut butter sandwich," Alice complains.

"Look kid…"Enid starts with the nine year old.

As Enid tries to negotiate with Alice, Dre leans over to Judith.

"I'm sorry Didi. I promise you can have all my apple sauce... and peaches."

Judith looks up at Dre with a toothy grin and wide eyes. Dre kisses Judith's cheek before he pinches her arm hard. Judith eyes widen in surprise before she starts to wail, immediately Enid rushes over Judith and picks her up trying to comfort the child all the while Alice complains about breakfast with Enid distracted Dre slips out the room.

"What's going on?" Maggie asks as she enters the room a couple of minutes later.

"Judith just started crying and Alice is being picky," Enid explains with a now whimpering Judith in her arms.

"Where's Dre?"

Enid freezes before her heart doubles in pace as she looks around the room and realize the young boy is no longer in the room.

"He was… he was just here. Right there."

In a panic Enid and Maggie search the entire house while Ms. Neidermeyer watches the other two children. Once the first round of searches is complete the three women stand in the kitchen debating their next move.

"He said something about his mama," Maggie says trying to remain calm while rubbing Alice's back as the little girl holds onto her leg crying into the fabric of her jeans.

"Did he go outside?" Ms Neidermeyer asks rocking Judith in her arms.

"I don't know," Enid whimpers close to tries.

"I didn't hear the door open or close," Maggie says.

Enid freezes when she notices the doggy door gently flap in the morning breeze, Maggie catches the object Enid stares at. At once both woman start towards the door.

"Stay here!" Maggie orders.

"Please Maggie, I'll be fast! I'll grab him and be right back. I promise."

"Enid –"

"We don't have time for this, please just let me do this!"

Maggie relents nodding her head, "Please be careful."

"I will!" Enid replies before she rushes out the house. She makes it down the porch and reaches the street in a matter of seconds; glancing to her left then her right she calls out Dre's name, not knowing which direction the young boy went. She follows her gut and rushes off to her left while she calls out Dre's name. Her choice to go left pays off when she finds Dre around the corner about a block and a half away from Ms. Neidermeyer's house. Dre wanders the street looking up and down the street confusion written all over his face with tears in his eyes.

"Enid?"

"Dre!"

Enid falls to her knees and hug the boy.

"I saw her!" Dre says pulling away from the hug.

"Let's get back to Ms. Neidermeyers!"

"I have to find her!"

Enid doesn't know who Dre is referring she only knows she has to get him back indoors so she says the first thing she can think of to coax the boy to follow her back to Ms. Neidermeyer, "Carl and Daddy will find her."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Dre."

The young boy seems satisfy with the answer, Enid stands and starts to lead Dre back to the others. Enid weaves in and out of various yards in a direct route back to Ms. Neidermeyer's when a man steps into their path.

"Mmm… mmm…mmm… what do we have here?"

The man says with an unnaturally high pitch voice, he has a haunch back with red welts of bad acne covering his face. Immediately the hairs on Enid's arms rises, she pushes Dre behind her out of sight and backs away from the man forcing Dre to follow her steps.

"Where have they been hiding you? You're a pretty young thang. I like them young."

Not needing to hear anything else from this man, Enid whirls on her toes and shouts to Dre, "Run!"

The little boy takes off and Enid races alongside of him, her sprint comes to an abrupt stop as she feel herself being yank back by her hair. She slams into the man's overtly hot body. He releases his grip on her hair, wrapping his arm around her waist lifting her off her feet.

Enid releases a loud scream which is cut short as his hand clamps down her mouth.

"Normally I like the screaming and the kicking but how about we settle for just kicking today?" the man says with a chuckle licking the side of her face as his hand moves up to roughly squeeze her breast.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Dre?" Rosita calls out surprise to see the young boy running full speed.

"DRE!"

At the sound of his name the boy spins mid-stride and charges towards Rosita and Tara.

"Dre? What are you-"

"HE HAS HER!" Dre yells cutting off Tara.

"What?"

"HE HAS HER! THE MEAN MAN HAS ENID!" He shouts between breathes.

"Where?" Rosita asks.

"There!" Dre point in the direction he just came from. He starts back in the direction when Rosita stops him.

"I'll go help Enid! Tara take Dre back to Maggie."

"I can help!" Dre calls out.

"You did by telling me but now you have to go back," Rosita says rushing off towards the direction Dre pointed to leaving Tara to deal with a fussing Dre who's determine to help Enid.

XxXx00000xXxX

Turning the corner Rick runs into a solid body, the scent of the person washes over him in cool familiar intoxicating waves. He throws out his arms holding onto their partly exposed shoulders feeling the softest hints of skin under his fingertips. He holds the person steady thinking it is an Alexandrian.

"Hey, are you ok-"

Rick stops mid-sentence as he stares into the eyes of the person he ran into. Deep dark brown eyes he lost years ago. His breathe is caught in his chest at the sight of her. An electric fire sparks and ignites the air around them just as it had all those years ago.

She is thinner but her face is the same, she's as beautiful as ever. She's breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair... dreadlocks… are longer falling to her shoulder. Her dark skin looks lush and enticing. Her lips full, sensual, and begging to be kiss. It is her eyes that changed the most, the captivating molten chocolate orbs. When he first met her they were light and full of life but now that seem to capture the glow of death.

She stumbles away from his touch and Rick steps after her being pull by her gravity. He prays this is not a dream that he truly found her. All thoughts of Negan and preparing for war dissipates as he soaks her presences in.

"You," Rick whispers.

"You," She replies.

Rick takes another step as she retreats.

"Michonne?"

At the sound of the name Rick turns to see who the caller is as does the woman.

"Andrea?" She breathes out. Surprise slips onto her stunning face, her eyes widen and lips fall open as she takes in the blonde woman with the blue eyes.

"MICHONNE!"

It's Andrea running full force towards Rick and the woman. Andrea throws herself at the woman in a full hug. The woman, Michonne, stands still. She doesn't move, she allows Andrea to hug her but she doesn't hug her back. Surprise still written upon her face.

"MICHONNE! OH MY GOD! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Andrea shouts excitedly moving back to take in Michonne with her arms still on the woman who haven't recover from his shock, "It is really you! What are you doing here?"

"She's with Negan's group," another voice calls out behind them. Michonne, Rick, and Andrea all turn to the voice, they watch as Spencer steps out of a shadow. A gun raise at Michonne's head, "I saw her the first time they came. He was hugging and kissing up on her."

Andrea leaps away from Michonne as if she's been jolted by an unseen electric current. She looks from Michonne to Rick to Spencer then back to Michonne, a look of disbelief etch upon her face.

"What?"

"She's probably one of his whores!" Spencer guesses.

"Hey!" Rick calls out.

"Michonne is that true?" Andrea asks in surprise.

Michonne doesn't answer, she keeps her eyes on the gun aim at her head.

"What are you doing with that son of a bitch?" Andrea asks. Her surprise and happiness at seeing a friend quickly fadding into anger.

She still doesn't reply, instead she backs away from Rick and Andrea, keeping her eyes on Spencer. Her hand slowly reaching for the sword strap to her back.

"Don't you fucking dare move," Spencer shouts.

"Calm down," Rick says moving towards the young man trying to block his line of sight to Michonne.

"You're with him?" Andrea asks. When Michonne doesn't answer, Andrea whips out her gun and points it to Michonne's head.

"Hey… hey… put the gun down, Andrea," Rick growls trying to remain calm.

"She's with him!"

"Andrea put the gun down."

Andrea removes the safety and levels it at Michonne's head. At the sound of the safety moving out of place, Michonne turns her head to Andrea. Her eyes narrow on the woman. Her had tilts to the side as she boldly takes a step towards the woman daring her to pull the trigger.

"What the fuck is going on?" Dwight calls out as he steps into the alley between the two houses.

"Andrea. Spencer. Put your guns away," Rick orders. He reigns in his own temper with two guns pointed at Michonne he doesn't want to incite any more raw emotions that may lead to someone, particular Michonne, getting hurt. Having just found her after seven years at the end of the world he knew they were meant for more and he couldn't let it end because someone got trigger happy.

"What the fuck are you doing with Negan and those fuckers?" Andrea asks ignoring Rick.

"We should just shoot her. One less of Negan's scum we have to deal with," Spencer shouts.

"NO! PUT YOUR GUNS FUCKIN' DOWN!" Rick shouts.

"You shoot her and Negan ain't going to be happy. He'll probably burn this place to the ground," Dwight comments.

"See I knew she was with him!" Spencer remarks.

"So you're fucking him?" Andrea asks inhaling a shaky breath before exhaling and saying, "Like you tried to fuck the Governor!"

He watches as a look of utter hate and anger settles upon her dark brown eyes. She sneers and lunges at Andrea so quickly it happens in rapid succession. Andrea pulls the trigger firing a shot but misses as Michonne tackles her onto the ground. Michonne growls knocking the gun from Andrea's hand and delivers several quick hard punches to Andrea. Andrea screams, kicks, and tries to get the enrage woman off of her but she doesn't let up.

Rick shouts for Spencer to holster his gun as he reaches for Michonne; Dwight pulls his own gun onto Spencer until he obeys the order. Rick lifts Michonne off of Andrea as he does she delivers a hard kick to the center of Andrea's chest knocking her back down causing the blonde to grasp for air as she clutches her chest in pain.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Michonne shouts wrestling herself out of Rick's arms. He releases her and she pushes herself from Rick regaining her footing. Rick turns to Andrea who's being help to her feet by Spencer and sees their commotion has gain attention from a growing crowd.

"You fucking crazy ass bitch!" Andrea laments, "So it was all true! You tried to fucked the Governor and when he rejected you, you burned Woodbury. You set the town on fire as people slept! YOU FUCKING MURDER! You belong with Negan you fucking slut!"

Michonne starts toward Andrea again, when she is stopped by Rick's hand on her elbow. Her eyes meet his for the briefest of moments before she breaks away from him, she storms off and the crowd parts allowing her to leave the narrow alley.

His eyes tracks her movement of liquid fire, she moves with a seductive rage that he aches to soothe. Pull by her gravity he starts after only to be stop by the sounds of his name.

"Rick!"

He turns to face Andrea who still clutches at her chest in apparent pain.

He remembers himself and asks, "You al'right?"

"You're going after her?" She murmurs with disbelief.

"You al'right?" He repeats. She sneers at Rick as Spencer slips next to her side and helps lead her out the alley.

Rick's hand goes to his hip, he looks down for a moment trying to piece together what just happen but the only thing he can think of is that he found her. After all this time, they found each other again.

"What happen? What was that about?"

Rick opens his eyes to see the crowd has dissipate and Carl standing in front of him.

"I don't know, Carl. I don't know."

XxXx00000xXxX

She vibrates with anger as the pieces fall together. The red haze of wrath blinding her vision. She barely holds herself together as she storms to the jeep she arrived in.

Andrea. Rick Grimes. Atlanta. The group at the farm. It all falls together. Michonne ire with herself increases to an inordinate level as she is unable to believe she didn't put the pieces together earlier. Andrea always talked about her group from the Atlanta and the Farm. She told constant stories about these people. She told Michonne countless stories about Rick, his wife Lori, and best friend Shane along with their love triangle. She heard the story about Carl, Daryl, Carol, and a few others. She heard the tales, yet she didn't put it all together.

As soon as she heard Rick's name, as soon as she knew he was Rick Grimes she should have made the connection. She was entirely caught up with seeing the father of her loss son after all of these years she forgot the important piece of information. She was so blinded by seeing him again and the memories he evoke of Andre she completely missed the connection.

If Michonne is being honest with herself, she'll admit she buried memories of Andrea, Woodbury and _that man_ the day she left with the town ablaze behind her. At the sight of Andrea, at the mention of _that man's_ name it unearths another storm of turmoil raging within her.

She vibrates with rage, it is all too much for her to bear. Seeing Rick and being in his arm for a brief moment causes the memories of their son to unlock and flood her every senses and nerves almost crippling her and bringing her to her knees. Adding to the open wound, Andrea's accusation adds salt and pain of the past to the gaping wound. Thoughts of Woodbury and the moment she truly died. It is all too much for her.

She wants to shouts. She wants to cry. She wants to fall apart. It's a compilation of emotions she doesn't want to deal with. It is a turmoil of emotion that wrecks havoc on her sanity and shredded pieces of her humanity.

Michonne hops into the back seat, drops her head between her knees and breaths deeply trying to calm herself. She lists and spells the name of each state and capital as she tries to calm herself.

"Waiting on a few more and then we're out of here," Connor's voice calls out.

She clenches her teeth, balls her fist, and swallows another wave of anger. She inhales through her nose and exhale through her mouth as she spells Idaho and its capital before moving onto the next state methodically trying to lock away the memories of Woodbury. Trying to lock away memories of her once friend, Andrea. Trying to lock away _that man's_ cruelty. Trying to lock away the matches she lit to the town. Trying to lock away memories of Rick Grimes. Most of all she tries to lock away memories of her son. His smile. His laugh. His head full of curly hair. His curious bright blue eyes. Her heart aches as she locks each memory away with each state she spells all the while vowing to herself to never step foot in Alexandria again.

XxXx00000xXxX

"It was nothing, just a cat fight," Dwight says shrugging off the earlier incident with Michonne and Andrea. Karson looks at him suspiciously, he only caught the last part of the fight between the two women.

"A cat fight huh?"

"Put them in bikinis and in some mud or jello, it would have been a thing of beauty," Dwight says down playing the incident.

Karson looks from Dwight to Rick, who adds nothing to the explanation his face hard as he glances at the line of Saviors' vehicles trying to determine which one holds Michonne.

"Alright… a cat fight," Karson finally nods and concede to the weak explanation.

Rick nods in agreement and breathes a sigh of relief. The moment is short lived when another commotion sounds behind the gather men. Turning to see the cause of the commotion he sees Abraham and Tobin leading a thrashing man out to the front gate.

The man thrashes in Abraham's and Tobin's grip, arguing and cursing at the two men as they lead him towards the gate.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Karson shouts moving towards the group pulling out his gun.

"Hey! Easy now!" Rick says holding up one hand as the other goes to his own weapon. Carl moves to his father's side and removes his own gun from his holster, keeping it at his side but at the ready. Daryl falls into line along with Glenn flanking Rick and Carl, both men readying their weapon as well. Rick notices several of the Saviors doing the same.

Tensions are already high with the arrival of the Saviors, it only increase with the altercation between Michonne and Andrea. He knows if anyone fire their weapon then it will become a bloodbath and Alexandria will suffer more than the Saviors. His only hope is to diffuse the situations before it escalates.

Abraham and Tobin dumps the man on the ground in front of the gathering group. He rolls on the ground and moves to his knees all the while yelling curse words at the lot of them.

"What happe-"

Before Rick can finish, Rosita and a crying Enid walks up to the increasing crowd. There's a bruise forming on her jaw, an angry red handprint covers her neck, her shirt is torn as well as the belt of her jeans and she only wears one shoe. He instantly knows what happen or almost happened. Rick moves to takes out his Colt Python but Carl taking in Enid's appearance snaps, he raises his gun at the man's head.

"Caught him trying to rape Enid," Rosita says holding the crying girl. Rosita's own face sports a quickly bruising black eye, "Stopped him before Abraham and Tobin happened along us and subdue him."

"You son of a bitch!" Carl roars going after the man, he uses the butt of his gun to deliver a blow across the man's nose effectively breaking it. The man's head reels back as blood sprouts out from his nose, Carl lifts his gun to strike him again when Daryl catches him and pulls him back.

The man breaks out into a laugh, "That little bitch yours?"

Carl tries to lunge for the man again but Daryl holds him back which only causes the man to laugh louder.

Enid cries mixes with his laugh, Carl steps back from Daryl and raises his gun at the man's head.

"Carl! Put the gun down!" Rick calmly says.

"You gonna shoot me boy?" The man laughs. Carl immediately recognize the man with the squeaky voice. He was the one taking about raping women when Negan first took him.

"Yea, I think I will!" Carl replies, cocking the hammer back and putting his finger on the trigger. Several Saviors in turn raises their gun and point it at Carl. He ignores the firearms facing him as he glares at the man still on his knees laughing as blood covers his mouth and chin falling on his own tatter shirt.

"CARL!" Rick calls out forcefully seeing the weapons aimed at his son.

"We'll take him back to the compound and let Negan take care of this."

"FUCK THAT!" Abraham roars, "He hurt our people so we should serve him justice!"

Several people in the crowd agrees with Abraham, demanding justice be handle by Alexandria.

"Kid, put the gun down," Dwight pleads.

"YOU'RE PROTECTING A RAPIST!"

"Fucking shoot him! I dare you," a kid with blonde hair shouts at Carl.

"Austin put your gun down!" Karson calls out to the young man.

"Carl, this ain't gonna solve a damn thing," Daryl says to the young man.

"HE DESERVES TO DIE!" Carl laments his face turning red with anger.

"This ain't the way kid," Dwight says.

"I don't give a fuck about him. I only want to shoot you, so please shoot him. I don't care as long as I have a valid fucking reason to shoot you in your other eye," Austin states.

"He can't go unpunished!" Rosita cries out.

"He's one of us and we'll deal with him," Karson says.

Several people starts speaking at once all while the man laughs and Enid cries. Rick tries to diffuse the situations but he wants to shoot the man just as much as Carl but he knows the terrible consequences those actions would have for Alexandria.

It is the scrape of steel dragging across the concrete that cause the ripple effect of silence to descend upon the gather crowd. The steel tip of her katana grinds against the concrete as she slowly approached the kneeling man. A chill of death hangs in the air with the morning breeze as the crowd willingly parts at her approach, her steps are slow and measure but more tired and heavy. Her unsheathe sword drags a step behind her as if weighing her down; by the look etch upon her face he knows she understands the situation. A look of unadulterated wrath mix with crippling pain contorts her beautiful face. She appears as an angel of death, ethereal and deadly void of any humanity in her brown eyes. An exquisite monster.

 _What happened to you?_ He thinks.

The laughter is the last thing to stop when the man locks eyes upon Michonne. He turns his full attention to her, the gloating replace with utter fear of the approaching woman.

"I ain't do nothing to her. I fucking swear! She's being fucking dramatic!" He begins to plea. She comes to a stop tilting her head and narrowing her eyes upon him as if she's trying to better understand the man.

"Please just take me to Negan. I'll accept any punishment he gives me. Let me be iron! Let me be banish." He cries out.

Michonne steps toward him as he grovels on his knees, his voice pitching to a higher octave as fear swallows him whole. Rick notes the reaction her presence evokes from the man. Rick notes the authority she has over the Saviors as no one tries to stop her. Karson their pseudo leader calls out her name but she doesn't acknowledge him.

"Michonne!"

The young man who wanted to shoot Carl, Austin, shouts out an aggravated warning looking annoyed with her appearance.

"Negan ain't going to be happy if you kill him!" Austin calls out to her.

Rick can't pull his eyes away from her as she ignores the begging and the warning. She moves so quickly, her movements can be miss if one's not paying attention. All eyes are on her as she lifts her sword and slices the man's hand off at his wrist, a precision cut done with one swing of her blade.

There's a loud audible grasp that sounds through the crowd, follow by silence then the man's screams of pain. The hand rolls on the ground and stops near Rick's feet. The man screams and holds out his arm as blood sprouts out the wound like a fountain. Michonne swings her blade again and his forearm is gone, cutting at his elbow another clean cut. Everyone stares at her in awe and horror. The man screams louder at the loss of more of his flesh. She flicks the blood off her blade with a snap of her wrist then slowly raises the blade to the man's throat.

"Quiet," She calmly states and immediately the man screams stop. He tries to stifle his cries as he cradle his arms against his chest.

"Stop the bleeding, get him together, and whatever you do… do not let him die. I'm not through with him yet," Michonne softly states. She looks up and locks eyes with Rick for a long moment before she looks at Enid then Carl. Carl lowers his gun and nods at her, she nods in response before turning to Dwight and Karson who stare at her in horror.

"Crazy bitch," a Savoir mumbles low near Rick.

"Let's go!" She says to Karson who watches her with an open mouth. She sheath her sword and walks back to the vehicle she rode in. Michonne hops in and closes the car door. Several Saviors quickly bandage the whimpering man, trying to stop the bleeding as Michonne ordered. Others finish gathering their supplies and load up, working quickly but quietly. Rick moves to stand besides Karson watching as the Saviors prepare to leave.

"This… that wasn't us," Rick says.

"I know," Karson says with a nod.

"Make sure he knows that."

Karson sighs looking at the vehicle that Michonne is in and nods, "He'll know. Trust me, he'll know."

XxXx00000xXxX

The crowd thins as the last of the Saviors leave Alexandria. From the information he gather from Carl and his allies, he knows Michonne has the potential to be a great ally or a great threat. He prays it is the former.

"Michonne," He says feeling the weight of her name upon his tongue before continuing his thoughts.

He knows Michonne is not the leader of the Saviors yet he notices how she is able to command the attention of the other Saviors with ease. His mind wanders what happen to her to turn her into such a beautiful monster. His heart aches at the pain he sees in the beautiful brown eyes of hers.

Rick tries to shake Michonne from his thoughts, he turns to see Carl with Enid in his arms walking towards the direction of their home. Rick sighs and starts toward the pantry wanting to take inventory of their supplies before checking up on his younger son and daughter.

"Rick!"

He turns to the call of his name to see Glenn quickly approach him.

"Rick! It was her! That was her!" Glenn says.

He feels his face turn into a masks of confusion.

"Who was her?"

"Michonne. The woman, Michonne that was her!"

"Glenn, who is she?"

"Rick that is the woman from Woodbury."

It takes moment for Rick to understand as his mind process the information as Glenn continues.

"Rick that woman Michonne, she was the woman in the cell next to mine in Woodbury. She was the one the Governor…" Glenn trails off he doesn't need to finish his statement.

Rick's heart shatters for her all over again. He asks the only question he knows to ask.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It is her eyes. I can never forget those eyes."

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 **A/N: Random Author Note but I thought I would share. I was going to have Glenn be Lucilled like the comments but I needed this last part to happen. I thought about having other another character but Glenn fit it so well.**

 **As always Thank you for reading and staying with me. Let me know your thoughts.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hello ALL!**

 **First: As always thank you for reading, following, commenting and favoring this story.**

 **Second: I am sorry about the long wait for the update. It is took a while to pen it all down and therefore this is a very lengthy chapter. Please pace yourself… like seriously… pace yourself it is several chapters in one, over 21k words. I debated splitting this chapter into several parts but I was like nahhhhhh. So please... take your time. This chapter is little bit slower than the previous ones but has a lot of information and fills in various pieces of the story. It goes from present to past (flashbacks in italics). It was heavy and a bit of a struggle to write some of the parts, so when commenting remember to be nice.**

 **Third: WARNING –TRIGGER (like I said some parts are heavy).**

 **Fourth: Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!**

 **Fifth: Once again thank you for reading.**

* * *

 **Flashing Back L4yers**

 _Before (approximately 7 sevens ago)_

 _He pushed the door open and stepped inside before turning to face her. Her eyes are set behind him, looking into the dark room trying to come to her own decision. Michonne knew if she stepped into the room with him everything would change. She didn't know how but in her gut there was an instinctual feeling of change, it frightened and excited her. His blue eyes dance wildly in the dim light of the hallway as he stared into her eyes._

 _"_ _Her," Michonne said._

 _"_ _You," He replied._

 _"_ _Him."_

 _"_ _Me."_

 _Michonne smiled, she liked his confidence that was peppered with arrogance, it was just enough to add a certain sex appeal to him. Her eyes shifted to look into his, "You have a reply for everything."_

 _He smiled, he reached out his hand to her. She glanced at the darkness behind him then to his hand and finally returning upon his eyes. Eyes so full of light and possibilities, Michonne dove into the possibility, she dove into the fright and excitement, she slowly took the outstretched hand and he pulled her into the room whispering, "Us."_

 _His lips covered hers as he closed the door behind her._

 _His kiss breathed life into her heart. She inhaled him, inhaled his scent and let it caress her from the inside out. His kiss ignited a fire deep within her belly. Michonne moaned against his lips and opened her mouth accepting the offering of his tongue. He stroked the fire, fanning the flame that started to move from her belly south to the apex of her thighs. A need for him began to churn as he pulled her closer against his body. The simmering flame weighed heavily between her thighs as she felt his desire for her pressing against her stomach._

 _He broke away from the kiss, Michonne raised her head and stared into his heady blue eyes. The lust and need for her clearly evident within the scope of the blue orbs but there was also something else, something Michonne was afraid to put a name to. He licked his lips and released her from his arms gently leading her deeper into the plush hotel room. Once Michonne stood near the king size bed, he circled around her as if a predator stalking its prey as he slowly took all of her in. A shiver raced down her shine settling along with the pool of lust at the juncture of her thighs._

 _He stopped in front of her and licked his lips again as his eyes caressed her body like a physical touch._

 _"_ _Strip."_

 _"_ _What makes you think you can have me so easily?" Michonne purred._

 _"_ _Because I had you the first moment your eyes met mine."_

XxXx00000xXxX

Present - Day

It is close to ten o'clock in the morning when they arrive back at the Sanctuary. Saviors start to unload the supplies gather from Alexandria while two Saviors unload the bleeding man as Michonne steps out the jeep.

"Take him to Miss Edna! Do not let him die, I'm not finish with him yet," Michonne orders. The men silently nods and quickly follow her command. Austin stomps pass her, throwing a cold glare at her as he enters the building. She's sure he's going to tell Negan of what transpire at Alexandria but she doesn't care.

Michonne retreats to her room to shower and change, skipping the briefing with Negan all lieutenants are require to attend. Even though she's not technically a lieutenant her attendance is still require. Michonne strips her clothes off and hops into the shower, needing to scrub away Rick's lingering touches; once she showers, she dresses in a tank-top and underwear before crawling into bed.

Closing her eyes, she finally allows the memory of her past to overtake her. She allows the memory of that faithful night with Rick that truly changed the course of her life to play repeatedly in her mind.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 7 sevens ago)_

 _"_ _When was your last checkup Ms. Anthony?"_

 _"_ _Uh…I think about six months ago," Michonne answered sitting on the examination table feeling exhausted. She inhaled a deep breath and exhaled in a coughing fit._

 _"_ _How long have you had that cough?"_

 _"_ _About two months."_

 _"_ _And you're just now coming in to see me?"_

 _"_ _I've been busy burying my parents! So a little cough has been the least of my worries!" Michonne snapped. The doctor looked startle but not angry, her face softened and she nodded with sympathy. She closed the distance between them and rested her hand on Michonne's knee._

 _"_ _I'm sorry for your loss."_

 _Tears brimmed the edge of her eyes, Michonne wiped them quickly away before she nodded. The pain of loss of her mother and father still fresh and raw for her._

 _"_ _It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped, Dr. Evanovich. It's just been kind of stressful planning two funerals back to back."_

 _Her doctor, Dr. Evanovich, nodded, "The high level of stress explains several things."_

 _"_ _Like why this cough won't go away?"_

 _"_ _Are you sexually active?"_

 _Michonne looked up at Dr. Evanovich confused, "No… ugh… a while ago but not really."_

 _"_ _The young man who was in here earlier?"_

 _"_ _Mike? Uh… no he's just a friend."_

 _Dr. Evanovich nodded again as she glanced at her tablet before she looked up at Michonne again, "When was your last menstrual cycle?"_

 _She thought back to the last time she brought tampons, it has been a while. She couldn't think of exactly when. "Uhh… I think I had a period about the same time this cough started but when I'm stressed my period tends to fluctuate."_

 _The doctor face's softened as she stared at the young woman, she stepped closer and with a gentle smile and soft voice said, "Ms. Anthony you are pregnant. Many women when dealing with issues causing high stress causes their menstrual cycle…"_

 _She barely heard any other words Dr. Evanovich said after she said 'you are pregnant'. She stared at the older woman for a long moment with her mouth open as the doctor continued on._

 _"_ _Ms. Anthony? Did you hear me?"_

 _"_ _I'm pregnant?"_

 _"_ _Yes," the doctor looked at her chart then back at Michonne, "According to the levels of hormones in your bloodstream you're close to starting your second trimester, my educated guess is about two and half possibly three months. I'll know more when we do a sonogram and more blood work."_

 _"_ _I… I can't be pregnant… I have not…" Michonne trailed off as she remembered the nameless blue eyed man._

 _Dr. Evanovich rubbed Michonne's back allowing her to fully process the news._

 _A wild flutter raged at the center of her chest as her hands fell to her abdomen._

 _"_ _I'm pregnant?"_

 _"_ _Yes, Ms. Anthony you are."_

 _A small smile crossed Michonne lips as she rubbed her still flat stomach. After the death of her parents Michonne thought she would never feel the feeling suddenly overflowing and raging in her heart. Hope. Michonne felt hopeful that everything was going to be alright even though she didn't know her child's father's name, she felt hopeful. She felt hopeful of the future and the possibility. Her smile grew as she had a silly thought, she knew the chances were small but she hoped the baby had his eyes._

XxXx00000xXxX

Present – Day

Michonne tosses and turns in bed as memory from that night of pleasure with Rick Grimes. They were careless that first time around, she didn't even know his name but she allowed him to bury his pleasure deep within her body. Her reckless actions led to consequences that turned to be her biggest blessing and accomplishment. Still unable to lock away memories of her son she allows thoughts of him to consume her completely.

A fretful sleep finds her. She dreams of Andre. Images of a chubby newborn, a toddler just starting to walk, and a two year old getting into everything plays in her dreams a slow moving movie. She dreams of him older and how he'll look now. Her dreams shifts to how he'll look as a pre-teen and then a moody teenager, he'll resemble his older brother she assumes. Images of how he'll look as a man haunts her dream, perhaps a close resemblance to his father.

All of the images flip through her mind like a picture book until the images increasingly become darker until the picture stills and focuses on the moment she lost him. The image unearth emotions she tries to bury deep; even in her sleep she wages war with her subconscious as the agony of his loss beats and shreds her tatter soul. Two years after her loss and she feels every inch and morsel of pain as if it is happening all over again. Seeing Rick and his blue eyes so similar to their son's only amplifies the anguish of losing Andre.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 2 years ago)_

 _Michonne dropped to her knees and pulled the remnants of Andre's hoodie holding it close to her heart. Her tears violently shook her as she trembled with guilt for leaving him and grief of her loss. The cracks in her heart feathered and start to shatter apart, crumbling into dust and being blown away with the cool breeze of the Atlanta's air. A dark rage swell within her and bathe everything in a red cast. When she stand, she see the world as it now has become, death, doom, destruction, and hate all shaded with a sinister red hue._

 _She started back to her tent where she last saw Mike and Terry, she unsheathe her sword her only thought to bring them as much pain as possible._

 _Michonne entered the tent and found Mike crying over the still body of his close friend._

 _"_ _You'll cry for him but not for my son? You'll protect that worthless pile of shit but not my son? You'll mourn for him but not for my boy?"_

 _"_ _Chonny… baby…"_

 _"_ _Do not call me that."_

 _"_ _Michonne… I tried to protect him. We were over ran!"_

 _"_ _Did you even know where he was? Or were you too high?" The calm Michonne felt only served to temporary balm the gaping wound of her loss. She wanted to understand why Mike didn't protect her son._

 _"_ _Andre was with playing with Gina and her kid! As soon as the… I tried to save him."_

 _"_ _You didn't try hard enough. You let my son die!"_

 _"'_ _MY SON… MY SON'… WE FUCKING KNOW! HE WAS YOUR SON BUT I LOVE HIM TOO!" Mike yelled ambling to his feet, he breathed in a ragged breathe before he lowered his voice, "He was my son too!"_

 _"_ _You never wanted him! You told me to get an abortion… you wanted me to get an abortion or did you forget that part?" Michonne snapped raising her blade to his neck. Mike skin looked to be burning with fever of the coming turn and flushed with perspiration._

 _"_ _I admit that mistake and I'm sorry! I'm sorry but I loved Andre! I loved him like he was my own."_

 _"_ _Then why didn't you protect him? Why didn't you save him?" Michonne said tears filling her eyes as her sword wavered in front of Mike. Her shoulders shook as she tried to fight off another crippling sob._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry Michonne… if I could I would switch places with him. You know I would," Mike said as he lowered himself on a nearby cot. Michonne's tears overwhelmed her. She wanted to be strong but the pain was too much and her tears overtook her in a gut wrenching sob as she crumbled and broke in front of Mike while he watched helplessly shredding his own tears. They cried together but complete isolated from the other for a long moment; Michonne was the first to stop crying, she wiped her face and moved to her feet. She was done with Mike; she had nothing else to say to the man who she once thought she loved. Michonne was going to return to her son's torn body and bury the remaining pieces of him._

 _"_ _I loved you both the best I could," Mike whispered as Michonne moved to the opening of her tent, "But you were… still are in love with a ghost."_

 _"_ _He was his father," Michonne said with her back to Mike as she spoke of Andre's biological father. It was an argument they had countless times. An argument of a ghost who blessed her with Andre, she was always grateful to the nameless man for the piece of him he left behind with her._

 _"_ _I gave you everything and all I asked was for you to love me back."_

 _"_ _And I did!" Michonne turned to face him, her hand tightening on her sword. "I did!"_

 _"_ _BUT NOT LIKE YOU LOVED HIM!" Mike shouted. Michonne glared at him as he struggled to breathe. He coughed and blood covered his hand. When he spoke again it was in a lower tone, "How could you possibly love a man you meant once? Talked to once? Slept with once? How could you possibly love a man and you don't even know his name?"_

 _"_ _You spend your dying breath asking about him?" Michonne asked incredulously._

 _"_ _I need to know Michonne. I need to know."_

 _"_ _And I need to know why you didn't protect my son!"_

 _Mike's face contort with anger, he struggled to his feet and yell, "I GAVE UP EVERYTHING FOR YOU!"_

 _"_ _I never asked you to," Michonne replied with a weariness that soaked her marrow deep down with the heaviness of exhaustion._

 _"_ _You never stopped me!"_

 _Terry body started to reanimate and come back to life, Michonne looked at the man who was an uncle to her son before turning back to Mike._

 _"_ _I was going to torture you the last moment of your life but as a thank you for all you did for Andre and me, I'll leave you to die in peace."_

XxXx00000xXxX

Present – Day

The heavy knock on her door pulls her from her fretful dream. She's thankful for the interruptions. Hauling herself out the bed she staggers to unlock the door. She swings it open and is not surprise to find Negan standing at the threshold.

"You missed lunch," He says softly. Her eyes drop to the plate of food in his hand.

She only grunts in response as she takes the plate away from him. Walking deeper into her room, she places the plate on her dresser as Negan steps into the space and closes the door behind him.

Michonne hugs herself as she stands at her dresser staring at the plate of food. She expects him to yell at her about taking the would-be rapist punishment away from him and about not reporting to the lieutenant briefing but he says nothing. She half expects him to be gone when she turns away from the dresser but he sit on the edge of the bed, hazel eyes cautiously watching her.

"Karson told me you got into it with some woman, say the word and I'll kill every last one of those Alexandrian fuckers. Just say the word, Michonne."

Michonne looks into his hazel eyes and see the candor blaze with each word spoken. She hugs herself tighter, feeling vulnerable and expose as he looks at her. With effort she pulls her eyes away and studies a small spot on the floor.

A part of her wants to tell him everything. She wants to tell him about her son, Andre. She wants to tell him about her connection to Rick. She wants to tell him about Andrea, Woodbury, and the Governor. She opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out. She realizes in that moment that the words are not for him.

"Come here," he commands with a whisper, needing comfort Michonne falls toward him. He pulls her down into his arm and hugs her tightly. Just when she thought she had him all figured out he surprises her; this tenderness that he shows only to her, it conflicts with everything she knows about him and messes with her sense about how she should feel for him.

Negan kicks off his boots and lays down on her bed, pulling her along with him. His strong arms wrap around her before he places a chaste kiss on her forehead. She allows him to comfort her. She allows him to hold her, like a lover would. She places her head on his chest and listens to his heart beat.

"Do whatever you need to do to him."

Nodding against his chest, she hold onto him as his heart beat lulls her to sleep.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 2 years ago – three months after Andre's Loss)_

 _She watched the woman exert all of her energy running wild in the woods. She kept pace with the woman following from a distance with her two pets. Michonne continued to follow debating whether to aid the woman or to let her meet her fate. A part of her wanted to leave the woman to her own devices but another part knew she had to help. Andre would want her to help the woman. He was always a helpful loving child, her heart clenched and ached at the thought of her son._

 _She watched the blonde woman empty her clip in the dead before she hit another with the butt of her gun. The woman stumbled and fell to the ground in fatigue before staggering to her feet. She flipped out a small knife and battled a dead before another dead started clawing at her. She fell to the ground, grunted, and tried to get away from the dead but the dead was on her nearly biting her._

 _Releasing a sigh, she walked towards the woman and unsheathe her sword with a single swing of her blade she sliced the dead head off and the creature fell to the wooded floor. The blonde woman look up at Michonne as she stood with her pets, Mike and Terry, with a mix of awe, horror, and fatigue etched all over her face._

XxXx00000xXxX

Present-Day

"Why didn't you tell me that was Michonne?"

"I didn't know!"

"Fuck!" Andrea yells as she paces back and forth in the young man's home, "Fuck!"

"It is going to be okay!"

She whirls on the young man her blonde hair spinning along with her whipping across the scowl on her face, "You didn't say she had a sword! You fucking didn't say she had a sword! If I knew… fuck! If I knew she had a sword I would have known it was Michonne! I would have known!"

"There's not much you could have done if you knew!"

"I would have warned Rick! I would have warned him and told him about the type of woman she is! I could have warned him that she's a fucking soulless monster!"

"She's with Negan. I am sure he already knows!" Holly grumps looking bored with the conversation.

Andrea sends a cold eyed glare at Holly, Abraham's new girlfriend. A part of her wants to believe that but they didn't see what Andrea saw when she happened upon Michonne and Rick, they didn't see the instant connection. They didn't see the way the two were looking at each, Andrea would have dismissed the thought but when Rick quickly moved to protect Michonne the hair on the back of her neck raised setting her instantly on edge. Andrea shakes the thought before she turns on the young man again, Spencer finches from the look he receives from her.

"I'm sorry Andrea. I didn't know who she was and that you knew her."

"You said Negan was kissing her the first time they came. You said Negan was kissing up on some black mean looking bitch! You never said this bitch had a fucking sword. The sword is fucking important!"

"Why is the sword important? That could be anyone."

Andrea glares at Holly again and shouts, "How many people do you know with a fucking sword? How many motherfucking people do you know carry a samurai sword? A fucking katana? Man or woman? Black, white, or Asian? How fucking many? The sword is important!"

"Andrea relax this woman Michonne… she ain't shit to worry about. She ain't no one special."

Finally speaking up she glances over to Abraham, who lounges in a corner chair of Spencer's living room, "She's dangerous. She's a soulless monster. She burned down Woodbury. She can and will do the same here especially now that she knows I'm here."

"We're not going to let her or her boyfriend, Negan take what is ours!" Holly says vehemently.

"Holly's right, we're ain't gonna let that happen. If Rick doesn't make a move by the of end week then we will!" Abraham says.

"One way or the other this Savior bullshit will end!" Spencer shouts in agreement.

"This bitch ain't anything to worry about, we'll take care of her along with Negan," Holly adds.

Andrea nods as she comes to a stop, trying to believe the words of encouragement her friends speaks.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 1 ½ years ago – 6 Months After Andre's found)_

 _Rick watched as Carl and Dre played along the stream's bank. Carl was showing Dre how to skip rocks and when the little boy was able to get a rock to skip across the water he cheered. The cheer was a little too loud, Carl quietly hushed him but smiled approvingly at the young child. Rick smiled at the interaction between the two as they continued their game._

 _Dre had been with them for approximately six months and Rick had grew extremely found of the little boy, he cared and loved the little boy dearly. He smiled at the memory of when they first found him and how the young boy would barely speak a word let alone his name. It wasn't until after Carl was shot and started to heal that the little boy would sit by a sleeping Carl and babble stories to him he no doubt heard from his parents._

 _Since the child didn't speak much, Carl nicknamed him PJ. The entire group started to call him PJ until the young child proclaimed his name to be Dre, stating his old daddy called him Dre. Rick recalled asking him where his parents were at and their names. His only response was that he lost his mother but he was sure she was going to find him again. When Rick asked about his father, Dre looked up at him with wide clear blue eyes and said:_

 _"_ _My old daddy is gone but it's okay because you're my new daddy, right? Carl said you're my daddy."_

 _Rick always knew he would protect Dre and love him but when the young child said those words to him with cerulean blue eyes staring at him Rick felt an unconditional love for the child and knew he would risk his own life to protect Dre and Carl. Rick responded the only way he knew how, he affirmed the young boy belief and then hugged him fiercely._

 _"_ _Yes, I'm your daddy," Rick said believing the words he spoke to the depth of his bones and in every chamber of his heart._

 _Rick was pulled from his reverie when he felt a presence move behind him, immediately he knew it was her by the way his shoulders tensed at her presence. Rick kept his eyes on his playing sons, happy that even in the midst of all the hell they saw they were still able to enjoy themselves and be kids._

 _She remained silent for a long moment as she too watched the two boys but the quiet moment was taken away when she shuffled behind him and began to speak._

 _"_ _I try to picture her."_

 _Rick doesn't turn to face her. A scowl covered his face as she moved to stand next to him._

 _"_ _I try to picture her," She repeated._

 _Rick sighed, they rarely spoke to each other. Rick kept his distance from her and Lori surprisingly respected it for the most part. Once in a while Lori would broach a subject with him and depending on the topic Rick would indulge her. He wasn't in the mood to indulge her but he also knew if he didn't she would continue to nag him until he does. He figured it was best to give in to her now rather than later._

 _"_ _Who?"_

 _"_ _The woman you slept with."_

 _Immediately Rick felt the strain of a headache coming on. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to combat the wave of pain. Years ago when they tried to make their marriage work for the second time, they went to couple counseling where Rick confessed his one night tryst with the nameless woman. Lori was livid at the confession but quickly forgave him stating the affair occurred when they were separated but she would throw it in his face each time they argued._

 _"_ _You never told me everything about that night… you never told me how she looked but I imagined she had to be beautiful in order to tempt the ever faithful Rick Grimes."_

 _Rick inhaled deeply as an image of the woman in question slowly conjured up in his mind eyes. Beautiful wasn't the correct word to describe her, she was nothing less than extraordinarily exquisite. He recalled her heart shaped lips and wide salacious brown eyes. He wondered if she survived when the world fell apart, a part of him knew she did. She was fierce but soft and the fire he recalled burning in her eyes wouldn't easily be distinguished._

 _"_ _You always had a thing for blondes, remember Charlotte? You had it bad for Charlotte. I was sure you were going to ask her to Homecoming junior year after the summer we first broke up. I was so jealous but then Shane-" She paused._

 _"_ _Shane," Rick repeated prompting her to continue._

 _"_ _Shane got in the middle of that. He slept with her under the bleachers."_

 _It wasn't a question but Rick answered it just the same, "Yea… yea he did."_

 _"_ _And then there was Kellie with an 'ie'. I swear… I thought she was going to be the end of us."_

 _Rick doesn't comment. He remained silent as she thought out loud, the ache in his head and her words stole the small moment of peace he found while watching his sons play. Hershel's farm had been overran by a herd and they've been on the road for three months, a moment of peace for him was rare and he normally tried to basked in it but she was taking it away from him._

 _"_ _Blondes and blue eyes that was always your thing. At least I thought it was your thing. So when you decided to date me… to marry me… to have me be the mother of your children… I felt so special because I wasn't like the others."_

 _She became quiet for a moment but her thoughts were loud. He tried to focus on his boys as they played by the stream, they no longer tossed rocks into the water but now each boy had a long stick in their hand and were sword fighting. Dre took a shot at Carl's side, Carl tried to lunge at the young boy but he quickly moved away a loud giggle escaping his mouth. Carl didn't try to hush him, he laughed too as he tried to swipe the boy with his own stick. A smile appeared on the corner of Rick's lips. He loved watching the two just be kids._

 _He felt her eyes burn into the side of his face, the smiled dropped as he released a long suffering sigh and turned to her. Her light brown eyes greeted his in despair._

 _"_ _Why does he have your eyes Rick? Why does that brown skinned boy have Carl's eyes? Why does he look like Carl when he was that age?" She asked her voice breaking with the threat of tears._

 _Her eyes bored into his, they stared at each other for a full minute before Rick's eyes dropped to her growing belly. She was about four months possibly five months pregnant, her slim framed showed every ounce of her pregnancy. His mind wandered whether he would love this new child as much as he loved Carl and Dre with the possibility of it beings Shane's._

 _"_ _Lori," Rick finally said as he automatically reached out for her not knowing why but thinking it may bring her some comfort. She pushed his hand out the way before she stumbled away from him leaving him alone once again with his thoughts._

 _Rick was thankful for the reprieve, he didn't know how he could answer Lori's question. In all honesty it didn't matter to him, Dre was his son but he still thought of it the same. Dre's loud giggles brought his attention back to the boy and for the umpteenth time Rick thought about her, the woman from that night and Dre's parents. The only thought racing through his mind._

Could it be possible?

XxXx00000xXxX

Present Day

Upon seeing his youngest son, Rick knows something is wrong. The look of relief on Maggie's face is evident at the sight of Rick, she points in his direction and Dre looks up to him with wide teary blue eyes.

"Daddy!" Dre shouts as he rips away from Maggie and launches himself into Rick's arm where he falls apart and starts to cry.

"Little Bear, what's wrong?" Rick tries to console him as the young boy buries his head into Rick's chest.

"I sa… I saw her! I saw her!"

Rick's stomach churns and knots, hoping his son is not referring to the brutal display of justice handed down earlier. Dre is exposed to a lot but he tries to protect his innocence as much as possible.

"Who?" He prompts. Dre moves his head from his chest and looks up into his eyes.

"Mama! I saw Mama!"

His stomach lurches forward. His eyes widen as he stares down at his son with his thoughts immediately going to her.

"Daddy, I saw Mama!"

He can't breathe. There's a heavy weight on his chest as he processes what his son says.

 _It can't be._ The thought race across his mind.

"Rick," Maggie calls out, he rips his eyes from Dre and gaze up into Maggie's eyes, "I didn't see anyone. The streets were empty."

Dropping his eyes back to Dre he asks, "Where?"

Small fingers point to the window. Dre looks up with pleading eyes desperately wanting his father to believe him.

"I hate to say this but- but this has happened before… he thought he saw her on the road," Tara comments.

Rick nods as he looks into Dre's eyes. There's been several times Dre thought he seen his mother, once he broke away from the group and was almost bitten by a walker. The memory still haunts him of almost losing his son. He wants to dismiss the boys claim but this feels different. His thoughts move back to her. He can't shake off the coincidence of her return and Dre's claim.

"Daddy?" Dre whispers.

"If your Mama is out there we'll find her," Rick promises. Dre nods wiping away at tears before he hugs him.

"Rick?" Maggie questions, his eyes goes to her distraught and understanding face. His eyes slides to Tara who also nods in understanding. They both know Rick's need to comfort his son but also the disbelief of Dre's claim is clear in their eyes. A nagging feeling gnaws at the center of Rick's stomach as his thoughts goes to his angel of death Michonne, his son Dre, and the possibilities. One thought loops in his mind repeatedly:

 _Could it be possible?_

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 1 years ago – eight months after Michonne and Andrea meet)_

 _"_ _He kept staring at me."_

 _"_ _Really? You thought he was staring at you?" Andrea said with a flippant tone._

 _Michonne looked at her for a moment but didn't comment, she knew what she experienced minutes ago at breakfast with the Governor and Milton. Instead of replying to Andrea's comment Michonne voiced her true opinion._

 _"_ _I don't trust him," Michonne declared as her and Andrea walked down the picturesque streets of Woodbury. She looked up and locked eyes with one of the Governor's man, Shumpert, who has been assigned to keep his eyes on them. The man tried to seem inconspicuous but Michonne caught him watching them throughout the morning._

 _"_ _Why not?" Andrea asked, she paused for a moment waiting for Michonne to answer when she doesn't she continued, "Have you trusted anybody?"_

 _Surprised at the question Michonne looked up at her friend and softly reply, "Yeah."_

 _"_ _Then give this a day or two, that's all I'm asking," Andrea said turning away from Michonne as she walked down the sidewalk before adding, "Time to get our shit together."_

 _"_ _My shit never stopped being together," Michonne declared._

 _Glancing over her shoulder Andrea quickly replied, "Didn't look that way when Milton asked about your walkers."_

 _A scowl started to form on her face as Michonne felt her annoyance with Andrea increasing as the woman continued to talk._

 _"_ _I'm surprised he didn't get a fork in his eyes."_

 _"_ _It was none of his damn business," Michonne spat._

 _"_ _I guess it is none of mine either," Andrea came to a stop and turned to face Michonne, "Eight months together, all we've been through, I still feel like I hardly know you."_

 _Her scowl deepened at her friend._

 _"_ _I'm sorry, it's the truth. Come on, I mean you know everything about me. I-"_

 _"_ _You know enough," Michonne said cutting her off staring into her friend's blue eyes for understanding. Michonne was still unable to tell Andrea about Mike and Terry. She was still unable to tell Andrea about her son Andre and his blue eyed father. She wanted to, she had come close several times throughout their time together but something always hindered her from allowing herself to share those things with Andrea. The words always caught in the back of her throat refusing to come out._

 _Andrea sighed, she gave a small shake to her head before continuing on, "Those walkers were with us all winter long, protecting us, and you took them out without any hesitation. That had-"_

 _"_ _It was easier than you think," Michonne said cutting Andrea off again. The two women stared at each other for a moment before Michonne walked away feeling both, Andrea's and Shumpert's eyes on her._

 _They have been in Woodbury for less than a day but her gut and alarm bells rang internally demanding her to leave, Michonne knew she would have to make a decision to leave Woodbury with or without her friend._

XxXx00000xXxX

Present Day

"I'm worried about Michonne."

Daryl glances at her with a raise eyebrow but doesn't speak. Sasha ignores her altogether counting the new ammo Eugene produced, making sure they fit in the various arrays of guns that sat in front of her. The only people who give Andrea their full attention are Tara and Heath.

"From what I heard about what she did to that man, she seems more friend than foe," Heath comments.

"A friend? Maybe for now but for how long?" Andrea asks when no one answers her she continues, "We all saw what Negan has done. We know Negan is evil but at least he's fair, Michonne… she… burned down an entire town while innocent people slept because she was jealous. She's an even worse demon than Negan."

There's still no replies, Andrea's frustration starts to grate her nerves from the lack of response and interest with her relationship with Michonne.

"The Governor attacked us at the prison because of her! He was seeking revenge because of her. He saw me and Merle there… I am sure he thought she was there too! Who do you think he was referring to when he was yelling about that black bitch?"

"I remember him shouting and muttering about her when my sister and I helped him recover," Tara admits looking at the others before she continues, "I saw what she did to him… she mutilated him. When he was slipping in and out of consciousness he always talked about killing her. When he finally got better, he told me and my sister that she killed his daughter."

"Shit." Heath whispers.

She bristle at that information about Michonne killing the Governor's daughter, she never saw his child during her stay at Woodbury but she doesn't correct Tara's statement, instead she nods her approval, "See! She's a monster!"

"That don't sound right, Carl said she protected him. A person who killed an innocent little girl ain't gonna turn 'round and protect a teen boy with one eye," Daryl counters.

"She's fucking crazy!"

"Maybe but what happened to make her so? What did the Governor do to her?" Sasha asks finally speaking up. She puts down the nine millimeter in her hand and looks up at Andrea. She turns her eyes on Heath and Tara before returning them to Andrea. "I can't imagine a woman torturing a man like you describe, killing an innocent girl, and then burning down an entire town because she was jealous. I just can't believe that, there has to be more."

"Your boyfriend was executed because of her," Andrea counters glaring into Sasha's eyes before turning to Daryl, "Your brother was killed because of her. Merle died because of the vengeance he was seeking on her."

"Merle died because the Governor believed Merle betrayed him," the archer simply replies.

"And that could have all been avoided if she didn't attack him. If she didn't burn down Woodbury," Andrea inhales a shaky breathe trying to control her annoyance and increasing anger, "Your brother would be alive. Your boyfriend would be alive. They could have lived, the prison wouldn't have been destroyed. The Governor wasn't a saint, he was protecting his people; Rick could have talked to him and we all could have been neighbors. Michonne took that away, all of those people died because of her."

"Why are you campaigning against her?" Sasha asks.

Andrea ignores Sasha and turns to Tara, "Your sister and niece… they could have still been alive. They-"

"Why are you campaigning against her?" Sasha repeats more forcefully, "What are you so worried about? What are you afraid of?"

The two women lock eyes, silently battling each other. Sasha usually remains quiet even though she never backs away from voicing her opinions when the time comes but normally her opinions aligned with Andrea's. They weren't close, if Andrea is honest she rarely talks to the other woman but she knows the increasing influence she has, especially when it comes to her growing friendship with Daryl. Sasha has Daryl's ear who in turns has Rick's due to their brotherly bond. Heath and Tara are assets to the community but not as important as Daryl and Sasha and their influence on Rick. She needs to get them on her side but she can see the suspicion growing in Sasha's eyes. She has to tread carefully.

"I am just saying we need to be wary of her," Andrea finally answers, "We need to be prepared."

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 1 years ago – eight months after Michonne and Andrea meet)_

 _Michonne jumped as the door to the room opened, once Andrea was revealed she relaxed a fraction._

 _"_ _We gotta talk."_

 _"_ _We gotta go."_

 _Andrea closed the door behind her as Michonne moved to the side of the bed and started stuffing their belongings in the duffle bag._

 _"_ _The Governor told me what happened."_

 _Michonne could hear the disapproval in Andrea's voice._

 _"_ _Michonne, you can't do things like this. You're freaking people out. You're freaking me out. The Governor is-"_

 _"_ _The northeast wall is guarded by some girl," Michonne cut Andrea off ignoring her statement while continuing to pack their bags, "We can escape there after dark."_

 _She hurriedly tossed Andrea the bag as the blonde stumbled a step back._

 _"_ _We are not prisoners here," Andrea replied dropping the packed bag onto the bed._

 _"_ _No one who comes here leaves."_

 _"_ _What are you talking about," disbelief was etched on her friend's face as she looked at her, "It's safe. There's food. There's shelter. There's people for God sake-"_

 _"_ _That's what they show you but you can't leave unless they make you."_

 _"_ _You are not making any sense," Andrea said with a tired sigh while shaking her head. A violent feeling churned in her stomach as she looked at her friend, desperately wanting Andrea to be on her side. "Mich, maybe you need to sit for a minute."_

 _Andrea moved towards her and Michonne backed away from her not wanting to be touched by the woman, "You need to trust me," Michonne implored._

 _"_ _And you need to give me more to go on. We got a good thing going here."_

 _"_ _I thought this was temporary!"_

 _"_ _And I think we need this. I want to give this place a real shot."_

 _"_ _I tried!"_

 _"_ _Breaking into houses? That's not trying! That is sabotaging."_

 _Michonne turned away from Andrea for a moment unable to believe her before turning back to face the woman. Staring into her friend's blue eyes she spoke, "This place is not what they say it is."_

 _"_ _Phillip-"_

 _"_ _You're on first name bases with him now?" Michonne bit out._

 _"_ _Phillip also told me you tried to…" Andrea trailed off not finishing her sentence._

 _"_ _Tried to what?" She asked as she moved further away from Andrea._

 _Andrea sighed and moved towards Michonne again, "I think the reason you want to leave is because you're embarrassed that… that Phillip doesn't want you but he's willing to-"_

 _"_ _HE TOLD YOU WHAT?" Michonne shouted unable to keep her anger in check._

 _"_ _Rejection hurts but it is no reason to act irrational."_

 _"_ _I do not want that man! I wanted my sword and I took it! Anything else is delusional rambling of a man who is not what he appears to be."_

 _"_ _He is a good man!"_

 _Michonne shook her head unable to believe her friend._

 _Andrea continued as she defended the Governor, "He didn't have to take us in. He didn't have to –"_

 _"_ _He covered our heads when he brought us in. He took our weapon-"_

 _"_ _It was in order to protect his community!" Andrea defended him._

 _"_ _How can you not see the cruelty in his eyes, Andrea? How can you not see the monster he keeps cloaked right behind the cracks in his façade? How can you not see it? He is not a good man… this is not a good place. Everything inside me is telling me to get as far away from this place as possible."_

 _Andrea sighed and shook her head of wavy blonde hair._

 _"_ _I've kept us alive this long by trusting my gut… Please Andrea just trust me."_

 _xx000xx_

 _Merle, the one arm hillbilly redneck, swung the gates open for the two women. Michonne stared in disbelief at how easy it was for them to leave Woodbury. Her gut churned as alarms sounded silently in her head. She knew this was all the Governor's plan, she knew he did this to drive a wedge further between herself and Andrea. As the gates opened, Andrea turned to face her with an expectant look on her face demanding an explanation._

 _"_ _They knew we were coming. This is all for show."_

 _Michonne could see the exasperation on Andrea's face. She knew she lost her friend the moment Andrea stared up with wide eyes filled with appreciation and lust at the Governor but Michonne didn't want to believe it. In that moment Michonne knew Andrea wasn't going to go with her but she still tried._

 _"_ _Do you hear yourself? How could you known that? And why would they bother?"_

 _"_ _Ladies!" Merle called out._

 _"_ _Close the gates!" Andrea ordered him._

 _"_ _NO!"_

 _"_ _I practically begged the Governor to let you stay," Andrea cried out in incredulity._

 _"_ _I didn't asks for that!" Michonne whispered harshly as Andrea stepped closer to her._

 _"_ _You didn't have to! That's what friends do for each other!"_

 _"_ _It goes both ways."_

 _"_ _So you want to run around out there with walkers on chains eating twigs? Is that right?"_

 _"_ _We held our own."_

 _"_ _Eight months! Eight months on the road moving place to place, scavenging, living in a meat locker. That was no life. I'm tired. I'm tired. I don't have another eight months in me. Not like that. And you, I..." Andrea trailed off, her words broken up by a long suffering sigh._

 _"_ _And what about me?" Michonne asked unable to look at her friend in the eyes._

 _"_ _I'm afraid you're gonna disappear," Andrea stated, she waited a moment for Michonne eyes to return to hers before she started talking again, "We always talked about this place, didn't we? A refuge. That idea is what kept us going."_

 _Michonne wanted to beg Andrea to come with her. Michonne wanted to plead with her once closest friend and convince her to come with her. Michonne felt the plea on the tip of her tongue. She didn't want to lose her companion. She didn't want to be out there alone again. Michonne wanted her friend to come with her but as she stared into Andrea's blue eyes, she knew Andrea already made her choice. Michonne steeled her emotions, stood up straight, and stared into Andrea's eyes and asked her the only question she could._

 _"_ _Are you coming or not?"_

XxXx00000xXxX

Present-Day

Rick walks down his stairs to find Andrea pacing in his living room. When her eyes lands on his she comes to a stop and smiles at him.

"Rick!" Andrea says in greeting as she moves to hug him, she wraps her hand around him be he stands stiff in her arms. She forces a brighter smile on her face but he doesn't return her smile, he looks at her unable to mask the exasperation crawling over his face.

"I heard Dre ran away from Maggie, is he okay?" Andrea asks backing away from Rick.

"He was upset but he's fine. I put him and Judith down for a nap."

She rubs the back of her neck and glance around the room, "The Saviors came so early if feels later than what it actual is."

Rick watches her with steady eyes. Andrea knew her, Andrea knew Michonne and she never said a word. A part of him still can't reconcile that Andrea knows the woman he made love to in Atlanta all those years ago. She glances up at Rick and feels the dark weight of anger in his eyes. He can't hide it and he doesn't want to, he wants Andrea to know how truly upset he is at the lack of information.

"I didn't know!" Andrea starts adding distance between herself and Rick.

"You're little boyfriend was quick to tell you she was with Negan but he failed to mention her earlier?"

"Spencer is not my boyfriend! You are!"

"That's somethan' else we need to talk about."

Andrea balks, her mouth dropping open.

"Hey Dad –"

Carl comes to a stop once he sees Andrea, immediately his face drops in a dark scowl at the sight of the woman.

"You're breaking up with me?" Andrea asks disbelief written upon her features ignoring Carl's presence.

"About damn time!" Carl grumbles.

"Carl!" Rick reprimands his son, "What did you want?"

"We got word to The Kingdom and Hilltop, Richard and Jesus should be here by nightfall."

Rick nods, "How's Enid?"

Carl head's drop for a second before he looks up at his father, "If Rosita didn't show up when she did… things could have been worse for her."

"She's a tough girl. She's be okay."

"Yea," it is Carl's turn to nod, "She will be. I'll make sure of it."

Rick moves to his son, he lays a hand on his shoulder and stares into the young man's eye recalling Carl's only personal experience with the Claimers on the road to Terminus.

"Are you alright?"

Carl nods, "I hope Michonne guts him."

"Carl-"

"If Carl told me about her then I would have told you! I didn't know, Rick!" Andrea interrupts him. Carl throws her a look of disgust before he glances at his father in confusion wanting clarification.

"Go check in with Daryl and Olivia. Start inventorying our remaining supplies and making a list of what we need to replenish, I need to talk to Andrea."

"Okay Dad," the young man says giving Andrea another scowl before he leaves the house.

"You're breaking up with me because of her?" Andrea starts as soon as the door closes behind Carl. Rick stares at her caught off guard by Andrea's statement. "You're breaking up with me because I didn't tell you about her? Because I didn't tell you about Michonne?"

"This was a long time coming. We should have never started this thang."

"I love you Rick! I love you!" Andrea wails.

A part of Rick wants to comfort the crying woman but as she ambles toward him in search of comfort he moves out of her reach. Andrea stares wide eyes at Rick, she stumbles back and falls into a nearby chair dropping her head into her hands as she cries.

"I'm sorry Andrea. We tried… I tried but this… we were a mistake."

She cries harder into the palm of her hand for several minutes while Rick shifts from foot to foot uncomfortably bearing the weight of her tears, he hated seeing the woman cry but he knew this had to be done. He just wished e never allowed it to start in the first place. Slowly but surely Andrea tears subside, when they do she wipes at her face and glances at Rick.

"I love you, Rick. Did you ever have any feelings for me?"

"I care for you, Andrea. You will always be part of my family like, Maggie, Glenn, Daryl, Carol, and the other but…"

He doesn't finish, neither of them needs him to finish. Andrea's face falls into a stoic grimace while they share a moment of silence before Andrea speaks up again.

"I've barely been here. I've been out with Darla and Heath looking for supplies and that distribution center. Spencer only told me there was a black woman with Negan. He didn't say much else to be honest no one said much else about her. It is almost as if no one really saw her that first time she was here. If someone would have mention her name or that she had a sword I would have known. Carl knew her nam-"

"Do not bring Carl into this!"

"Fine I'll bring you into it!" Andrea snaps glaring a Rick, he can see the pain swimming in her blue eyes, "I know Carl told you about Michonne. I know he told you about this woman and you felt the need not to tell me about her even when we were okay."

"We were never okay."

Andrea's mouth drops open at his confession.

"You should have still told me about her, if not as my boyfriend or lover… you should have told me as a friend and you didn't do that. Why Rick? Why?"

Rick doesn't have an answer, instead he gives Andrea a hard look. She sighs and shakes her head wiping away the tears falling down her face.

"If you told me… If I knew I would have been able to warn you all."

"Warn us?"

"Negan is a sadistic heartless monster and Michonne belongs with him."

Glenn's words ring in his ears, he moves toward Andrea and take a seat near her.

"Tell me what happened in Woodbury."

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 1 years ago – eight months after Michonne and Andrea meet)_

 _It had been two days since her and Andrea's fallout. It had been two days since she lost her closet friends. It had been two days since she left Woodbury. It had been two days since she fell into his trap. It had been two days since she have been his prisoner. It had been two days since he began his torture of her. It had been two days since she been tied to the ceiling with her arms raised above her head in a wide Y. It had been two day since a collar had been placed around her neck with a chain linking her to the wall behind her. It had been two days since his determination to break her. In those two days Michonne had yet to break for the man who called himself the Governor._

 _The first day, he beat her. He busted her lips open, gave her a black eye, possibly broken her nose. He didn't stop at marring her face, he continued and beat her until she was a ball on the cold floor of the abandon warehouse. Breathing was difficult, she could tell several of her ribs were broken and she wouldn't be surprised if there was internal bleeding._

 _The second day started with water being splashed in her face. The water torture didn't stop there. He water boarded her for an hour until he was called away on Woodbury business. He returned later with two of his goons placed a large tub of water in front of her and placed her feet inside. The Governor then proceeded to repeatedly electrocute her for the better part of the afternoon. When Michonne still didn't respond to his liking he threaten to cut off her hand but instead dislocated her left shoulder._

 _She watched him step back his eyes taking her in slowly with a sinister mixture of respect, awe, disdain, and annoyance. She breathed heavy and watched his every movement._

 _"_ _You're tougher to break than I thought," He said. It was the third day of her captivity. He already pulled the several fingernails from her right hand leaving it a bloody mess._

 _Her left eye was practically swollen shut from the punches he delivered onto her, yet somehow she was still able to give him her most dagger glare. She said nothing. She never spoke. She tried her best not to make any sounds to satisfy him. She tried not to scream let alone grunt or groan in pain. He backed away until he reach a small table filled with rusted tools, he placed down the pliers that were used to pull nails from her finger beds._

 _"_ _I think I may break your knee or maybe your ankle."_

 _He picked up a scalpel and tested the blade for sharpness, when he was satisfied with the blade he started moving towards her again. Michonne didn't move or speak, her steely glare remained on him defiantly daring him to do his worse._

 _"_ _But what I will do is peel that pretty dark skin off your body. I don't know if I want to start with you face or…" He trailed off his eyes assaulting her body with a menacing gleam before they returned to her glaring eyes, "Or something else."_

 _He stepped to her and lightly rubbed the sharp blade across her bruised face. Michonne didn't react to his touch, she only clenched her teeth and bare them at him in a sneer. He lowered the scalpel running it down her neck and then arms. Michonne still did not react but she could see his eyes grow darker with annoyance and anger at the lack of reaction. It is not until he ran the blade between her thighs at her center that Michonne tensed._

 _She immediately recognized her mistake as the Governor stopped his taunting and his eyes snapped to hers a malicious gleam within them. He pressed the knife against Michonne's vagina into the fabric of her jeans; her jaw twitched as she instinctively pushed her legs close from his touch while moving away from him. He grinned moving the blade away, he forced her legs open and pushed his blade free hand against her._

 _"_ _Get the fuck away from me!" Michonne spat moving away from him causing her the rope to dig into her wrist. The rope holding her arms up allowed her to move but only slightly, she unable to escape his touch._

 _"_ _There it is," the Governor said a cruel glee. His hand goes from between her legs to roughly squeeze her breast and Michonne instantly twisted from his grasp. A laugh of malicious intent roared from his cruel twisted mouth as he backed away from her. When he looked at her there was a new depth of brutality in his eyes._

 _"_ _Would you like to know why I didn't come back and play with you last night? Or why I'm coming in so late? Your dear friend Andrea," he paused as he looked at the tools at his disposal. He placed the blade down and picked up a hammer. He flipped it several times in his hand before placing it down as well. He turned to her and started towards her again, "Andrea crawled into my bed last night. She's a wild one… insatiable. I took her over and over last night and then again this morning."_

 _"_ _Andrea was good but…" He said as he stopped in front of Michonne, his eyes assaulted her body with a dark appreciation before they came to rest upon her eyes. He used both hand to rip apart her already tattered shirt exposing her bra, "But I'm sure you're going to be better."_

 _Michonne raised her legs and using her strength to kicked at him as he reach for her breast again, even in her weaken beat up state the kick had enough force to cause the man to stumble back. Upon getting his footing back he marched to her and delivered a hard back-hand slap to Michonne. The slap caused a ringing to sound in her ears, every part of her ached in pain._

 _The Governor with one hand grabbed a fist full of Michonne's hair and yanked her towards him and slammed his fist against her jaw, "You fucking bitch! I am going to fuck you raw until you break and when you do I'm going to fuck you some more and then share you with my men."_

 _He pushed her head back and his hands immediately dropped to her jeans and belt. Michonne tried to knee him but a hard elbow across her face stunned her for a moment allowing the Governor continue to undo her belt. She grunted and tried to kick the Governor as he tried to pull her jeans down her legs. He stood to his full height and smashed his fist into her midsection before yanking on the rope that held her dislocated shoulder and yanked it hard._

 _Michonne yelled out in pain, the Governor delivered another hard punch to her gut as he yanked on the rope. Her entire body flamed in agony as another blow landed across her face. In the moment the pain started to ebb away slightly Michonne felt the cold room air upon her now bare legs, she opened her eyes in time to see the Governor toss her jeans behind him. He moved closer and tried to roughly grab her sex when Michonne head butted him, due to their difference in height her head butt reached his lips._

 _Holding his hand to his now bleeding lips the Governor moved away from her and glared at her. He reached down and yank at her underwear, Michonne twist at out his grasp ignoring the shooting pain in her shoulder. Her underwear tore but remained on._

 _He stepped away from her and looked her over, an evil smile splitting his lips, "This fight only makes my cock harder." Michonne eyes followed as his hand dropped and rubbed the bulge in his pants. He started to unbuckle his jeans when there was a hard knock on the door, not waiting for the Governor's permission to enter the door was pushed open and a small flood of light entered the room._

 _"_ _Governor?"_

 _"_ _What the fuck do you want?"_

 _"_ _There's a situation!" The voice said blocking the light flooding into the room with their body. Michonne immediately recognize the voice and body size as Bruce one of the Governor's loyal solider._

 _"_ _Can't you all handle it? Get fucking Merle and Martinez to deal with it!"_

 _"_ _They found people, three men, looks like they maybe from a community nearby."_

 _This information grabbed the Governor's attention. He turned to face Bruce._

 _"_ _From where?"_

 _"_ _They ain't talking."_

 _"_ _How many you said?"_

 _"_ _Three, an Asian kid and two bulking niggers. These fuckers can be potential threats. The way they're talking sounds like there's a big group of them."_

 _The Governor turned to face Michonne giving her a cold once over, "Bruce do me a favor tie her leg to that wall over there and the other leg over there. Don't struggle too much yet, girl. You're going to want to save you energy."_

 _Bruce approached Michonne, he went to left her left and picked up a long rope and started to secure it to the wall before he slowly started to pull it over to her._

 _"_ _You lasted two days… but tell me girl- how long do you think it would take for me to ruin your life – shatter your sense of security really fuck you up? I think a half an hour could probably do it but really, what I plan to do with you I plan on doing this everyday as often as I can until you figure out some way to kill yourself."_

 _By the time the Governor finished his speech, Bruce had tied one leg and finished placing the brace on her right leg. Michonne struggled against him the entire time while panic rose in her chest as her ability to move became even more limited. A gut clenching terror churned her stomach and caused bile to rise up her throat. The Governor approached Michonne as she struggled against her ropes, she tried to calm down her emotions and terror but the fear was becoming overwhelming. He tore off bra and underwear rendering her completely naked. Michonne tried to hold in the whimper but it slipped her lips much to the Governor's enjoyment._

 _"_ _Governor the men we captured?" Bruce asked as he stepped away from Michonne his eyes greedily taking her in._

 _The Governor nodded, "We are not done. I'm going to welcome our new guess and then I'll be back to play with you some more… this is going to be fun."_

XxXx00000xXxX

Present Day

"She's lying. I think she's lying. Do you think she's lying?" Glenn asks. Rick pauses his pacing and turns to Glenn for a moment. Maggie sits next to him, resting her hand on his knee in order to stop it from bouncing. Glenn looks as agitated as he feels, he resumes his pacing trying to calm the emotion boiling inside him.

"Just because what she said doesn't match your side of the story doesn't mean Andrea is lying. Those things could have happened," Maggie says trying to be the voice of reason.

"What did she say Rick?" Glenn asks ignoring his wife.

"She said the Governor found them and welcomed them into his community. That as soon as they arrived Michonne didn't want to be there, she wanted to leave. She said Michonne spiraled out of control, broke into several people houses, and even threatened a couple of people, one of them a young girl who happened to be on guard duty. Andrea said Michonne tried to seduce the Governor and when he rejected her, she snapped even further and demanded they leave. That is when she decided to split away from Michonne. She said she watched Michonne leave the community and things were great for several days until she woke up to the sound of gunfire, people screaming, and the town on fire. At first they tried to put the fire out but there were too many buildings on fire and that's when they started to evacuate the town. Andrea said she watched Michonne set a building on fire before she disappeared into the night."

While Rick recounts what Andrea told him Glenn shakes his head in disbelief. Glenn leaps to his feet and starts pacing as well. He wants to believe Andrea, he's know her a long time but he has also know Glenn is a man of high integrity.

"If she did set those building on fire I do not blame her. What I saw… what I heard…" Glenn can't finish, he was able to tell the story of what he saw once to Rick and Hershel but he is never able to completely recount the story again. Maggie stands to her feet, she moves toward her husband and offers him comfort as she rubs his back; she only knows the overall story Glenn refuses to tell her the gritty details of his time at Woodbury.

Rick knows Glenn feels guilt and shame for not being able to help Michonne sooner, Rick also feels the burn of guilt but more so he feels angry. He wants the chance to kill the man all over again.

"Andrea said the reason the Governor attack the prison was to get revenge on Michonne, he thought she was at the prison."

"We did take all of those people from Woodbury in. It could be easy to assume she was one of them."

"Why do you believe Andrea? Why are you defending her?" Glenn asks jolting away from her touch.

"Glenn-"

Maggie cuts off Rick, "I am not defending anyone. I am trying to be reasonable. All I am saying is there can be some truth to what she said."

He shakes his head, "I don't believe her. I know what I saw and without a shadow of a doubt that what happened to Michonne by the Governor was not her choice. It was not a fucking kink, Maggie."

"And I believe you Glenn. I believe you," Maggie says softly.

Glenn turns to her and his facial features crumble in despair, "You wanted to come with me on that run. What if it was you? What if…"

"It wasn't and I am sorry it happened to her, I truly am but there was nothing you could have done," Maggie says walking up to Glenn and taking his face in the palm of her hands, "And as soon as you had a chance you did do something."

Rick watches the young couple hold each other, he feels the sting of jealous as he observes them. With each passing day Maggie's belly grow more and more, she's about five months along. The birth of the new child an exciting and terrifying feeling that moves throughout the people of Alexandria, it is a symbol of hope just like Judith and Dre but also a daily reminder of the world they live in. His thoughts goes to Michonne, the dehumanize look on her beautiful face couple with the hurt and pain of the past. All Rick wants to do is hold her and comfort her like the young couple before him are doing.

A soft doorbell chimes throughout the house and Rick dismisses himself from the couple to go answer their door, when he does he finds Daryl and Sasha standing beside him. He beckons them into the house and the three make their way to the living room. Upon Rick's return with Daryl and Sasha, Maggie has pulled away from Glenn who still continues to pace the floor less aggravated than before.

Rick recounts Andrea story to the archer and the sniper. Daryl stands by the window once in a while glancing behind the curtains into the streets while Sasha takes up post by the living room entrance. Glenn tells them that Michonne was a prisoner of the Governor but doesn't tell or imply what truly happened to her.

"Do you know what happened to cause her to snap?" Sasha asks.

Glenn doesn't answer he only looks at his living room floor.

Maggie speaks up instead, "I think Andrea may be right about the Governor attacking the prison because of her but I also believes the man was crazy and just evil."

"Merle ain't tell me a lot about Woodbury but from what he did tell me he said the man was batshit crazy," Daryl mumbles.

"Did Merle tell you anything else about what happened at Woodbury?" Glenn asks.

"Naw…. He would always clam up."

"He must of have known something, he was on the road looking for him more than he was at the prison," Sasha comments.

"We only found several bodies in the debris but never the Governor. Merle was convinced he survived and was out there lookin' for 'em."

"Guess Merle was right," Sasha mumbles, "What about Andrea, did she say anything when she first arrived at the prison?"

Maggie speaks up with her southern twang as she rubs her head, "I spoke to her several times about Woodbury and her time away from us. She would speak of her ex-friend… Michonne but I can't recall her ever saying her name. She would get so upset whenever she talked about her, I stopped asking. If anyone knows more details about her relationship with Michonne it will be Carol. They were always closer than Andrea and I."

"What bout you Rick? Andrea loves talking… she ain't said shit about the samurai before all of this?" Daryl asks.

Rick shakes his head slightly as he stands by the fireplace with his hand on his hips, "It's along what Andrea said. I got the feeling no love was lost between them and to be wary of the woman."

A look of confusion covers Sasha's face as she questions, "Did Andrea ever say anything about having a relationship with the Governor?"

Rick's eyes widen as he looks at Sasha, the others stare at the young woman as well. She pushes herself off from the door frame and looks at the faces around the room, "There's been several mention of Andrea stating Michonne was jealous. What was she jealous of? Andrea? Did Andrea and the Governor have a relationship?"

Maggie is the first to stutter a response from the shock silent group, "She… She… Andrea… nev- never mentioned it. She never… said anything like that."

Sasha nods and lock eyes with Rick, the question singing in her eyes. Rick shakes his head indicating he doesn't know. If he knew that Andrea had a relationship with the Governor he would have never started one with her. Being honest with himself he knows he should had never started a relationship with her.

"It is hard for me to believe no one saw or remember this woman. She's not a forgettable kind of person," Sasha states.

Rick nods in agreement, even before he knew her name and who she was Michonne is not a forgettable person. She burned herself into the core of his memory.

"I spoke to 'em Woodbury people when they first arrived at the prison and ain't none of 'em say shit about a woman with a sword… fuck neither did Merle," Daryl grumbles.

"According to Andrea, Michonne was sword-less for most of her duration in Woodbury and she was only there for a day and a half maybe two days at most," Rick says.

"So a lot of people wouldn't have remembered her," Maggie comments.

"Did anyone see her set the town of fire?" Glenn asks.

Daryl shakes his head, "Nah, no one ever mentioned the cause of the fire only that they woke up to it."

"Did the Governor ever call out her name?" Sasha asks. Rick recalls she was one of the sick getting over their fever, she was still in the building when the Governor pulled up with his tank.

"I don't remember."

"I 'member him yelling out for a black bitch but I ain't recalling no name," Daryl says.

"What do we do now?" Maggie asks. As if on cue all eyes goes to Rick. What Rick wants to do is find Negan's compound and get Michonne as far away from the sadistic man and protect her. He wants to get her side of the story. He knows that it is irrational so he pushes his feelings for her and tries to think as the leader of Alexandria.

"Andrea said she's dangerous possibly even worse than Negan," Rick says.

"Andrea has been campaigning against that woman," Sasha states. Surprise Rick looks at Sasha tilting his head slightly. Daryl grunts in agreement and Rick looks toward him.

"She been going around riling people up," the archer comments.

"Why?" Maggie asks incredulously.

"That's what I want to know too. It makes no sense for Andrea to go around bad mouthing a woman who we already consider an enemy," Sasha says.

"Somethin' else must of happened in Woodbury then," Daryl said.

"After what we did at that outpost… some of the Saviors think we are the bad guys," Maggie confesses.

"We're not!" Glenn speaks up, "I thought…. I thought going and killing those people at the outpost was wrong bu- but one of those men had pictures on his wall of people he tortured. We were only acting first."

Maggie nods at her husband and inhales deeply before releasing a deep sigh and say, "When the Governor came he wasn't trying to overtake the prison he was trying to destroy us. He killed Daddy and Bob. He killed those people and maybe… maybe part of it was because of Michonne but I don't think we should blame her for the action of an insane man. She was just as much as a victim as we were."

"Now she's a friend?" Daryl asks.

"I'm not saying that… I'm saying there's more to Michonne than what we heard about from Glenn and Andrea," Maggie says.

"There is more to this woman than being Negan's sidekick," Sasha adds.

"Than protecting Carl and getting justice for Enid," Daryl comments.

Rick looks around the room and nods along with them, "There is a hell of a lot more to Michonne."

And Rick was determine to find out all there is to know to know about her.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 1 years ago – eight months after Michonne and Andrea meet)_

 _Shame tore at Glenn, it ripped the young man apart. It was the start of the second day of their captured but to Glenn it felt as if they've been in Woodbury longer. Glenn, Oscar, and T-Dog were on a supply run when they stumbled upon the helicopter crash as the three inspected the scene they were surprised and overtaken by several men. When Glenn came to he was in a room surrounded by six men with guns trained on them, Glenn's biggest surprised was the sight of Merle among the men._

 _Glenn watched as Merle and T-Dog attacked each other, Merle spewing racial slurs at T-Dog while he gained the upper hand and beat his friend with the metal contraption around his missing limb. The fight between the two men only ceased when the door opened and revealed two more men, upon seeing him Glenn knew immediately the dark hair man with the goatee and the sadist eyes was the man in charged. He knew nothing good could come from their time under the man's reign who called himself the Governor._

 _He watched in stunned horror as the Governor cut off T-Dog's hand, Glenn tried to rush onto his feet and help his friend but was quickly subdued by several of the surrounding men. Several fist pummeled him into the ground, once he stopped moving the Governor order his men to strip Glenn of his riot gear. The Governor had T-Dog taken to their doctor while he ordered Glenn and Oscar taken to holding cells were the two men were beaten in order to give up their location._

 _It wasn't until later in the night when Glenn heard the first screams that he knew that they weren't the only prisoners the Governor had. He tried to block out the sound but the screams were coming directly from the cell next to his. He heard the hard punches and slaps that came before the grunts of pain. He heard the Governor's cruel laugh as he took enjoyment from the torture he laid upon his victim. The sounds echoed and vibrated off the tin walls amplifying the sound in Glenn's cell enabling him to hear it all as if he stood in the room as well. It was going to be sounds and cries that would haunt Glenn for the remainder of his life. Glenn heard it all and only one thought crossed his mind: thank God it was not Maggie._

 _Shame ate him up from the inside out as he tried to ignore the cries. He was thankful that he convinced Maggie to stay behind at the prison; she wanted to go with him on the run and they argued about it up until the moment he left. He was happy that she stayed even though she didn't want to; Glenn knew he could not stand the sounds coming from the holding cell next to his but knew he would have told the Governor anything he wanted to know in order to make the yelling stop._

 _Even now he wanted to tell the Governor everything in order to make the yelling stop he didn't. He thought of Maggie. Glenn thought of protecting Maggie, Beth, and Hershel. The image of Rick's new daughter, lil' ass-kicker, images of Dre, Carl, and the other members of his family came to mind. He wanted the yelling to stop but he couldn't betray his family for this nameless stranger therefore he felt shame for being thankful it wasn't one of them. He felt shameful and guilt that it was this nameless stranger and not Maggie or Beth. He felt guilt that he couldn't stop what was happening to the woman in the cell next to his. Glenn tried to atone for his thoughts and thankfulness when he promised the first chance he got he was going to free her and kill the Governor._

 _Glenn hummed to himself and repeated bible verses that he learned from Hershel. When he came to a break in the verse he noticed the noise from the other room had come to a stop. He heard a bang against the door in the room next to his._

 _"_ _We're through here let me out!" Glenn heard the Governor call out, "You go ahead and cry it out, honey. Just get it all out. You earned it. You don't have anything to be ashamed of. Cry your little head off."_

 _He heard her sniffle before she croaked out, "I'm… I'm not crying for me... I'm crying for you." He heard her inhale deeply before she spoke again, "I think about all the things I'm going to do to you and it makes me cry. It scares me."_

 _The door to the cell opened and he heard the Governor's laugh echo inside his cell and at the door._

 _"_ _That's cute. Get some rest, as much as you can, at least. A guy is going to be in here later to clean you up, maybe give you some bandages. I would let him have some fun himself but not until I get my fill. He'll be getting you ready for tonight when I come back. First I'm going to fuck your friend then I'll be back for more of you. You're much better than her anyways. Just want to give you something to look forward to. Later."_

 _xx000xx_

 _Beaten and bruised he breathed heavily on the ground beside the dead walker Merle threw in the room at him. The door to his cell opened and several figures filled the doorway._

 _"_ _You ain't dead, yet?" Merle called out from the door way._

 _Glenn groaned and backed away from the door as the Governor, Merle, and Bruce entered the room._

 _"_ _You ready to talk? You ready to answer my questions," The Governor asks, "My man, Shumpert tells me your riot gear didn't have any police markings on it… that it could possibly be from a prison. I just need to know where."_

 _He narrowed his swollen eyes at him and sneered his teeth at the man. Glenn was not going to tell the man anything. He was not going to make the devil's job easier by telling him where his family was located. He would rather die. He would rather listen to the woman scream a thousand nights than give up his family, then give up his home._

 _"_ _Still not ready to talk? After the beaten Merle gave you I assumed you'll be ready to talk. I'll admit all three of you motherfuckers are some tough son of bitches. After the beatings, losing the hand… I'll figure one of you all may crack," the Governor said as he released a sigh. He stroked his goatee and paced the small cell for a moment before he stopped and turned to his man Bruce, "We're going to torture them. We're going to start with the big steroid nigger first."_

 _Bruce nodded, "Want me to pull your torture cart in his cell?"_

 _Glenn blanched at the thought of this man having a torture cart._

 _"_ _Yea… do that. When I finish with her we'll start skinning the man that should get these fuckers talking."_

 _Glenn watched as Bruce and the Governor smiled with a sinister glee, Merle looked paled but he pushed his chest out with false bravado and gave Glenn a shit eating smirk._

 _The Governor moved closer to Glenn and grinned at him with a wide toothy grin, "Pray the nigger tells me everything I want to know, if not I'll be paying you a visit as well."_

 _He gave Glenn a light tap on his bruised face before he turned and left the room and started to the cell beside his._

 _"_ _She ready?" He asked with a dark laugh._

 _"_ _Probably not."_

 _"_ _Good open it up," Glenn heard the sound of her cell being open and then more of the Governor's taunting, "Ready for more?"_

 _Glenn tried to drown out the sound from the next room as it was overwhelming his senses. Anger propelled him to his feet he was going to pound on the door and demand for the Governor he stopped shy once he heard the voices of the Governor's men at his cell door._

 _"_ _Governor said once he's done with her we can take a turn."_

 _"_ _How long do you think that'll be?" He could hear the heaviness of lust in the man's voice._

 _"_ _I don't know… soon I hope… even as fucked up as she looks she still gonna be a hot piece of ass."_

 _"_ _Merle you gonna get in on that ass?"_

 _"_ _Nah… that shit ain't for me," Merle grumped._

 _"_ _Its cause she a nigger?"_

 _"_ _Now ol' Merle is a lot of thangs. A bigot being one of them but I ain't no rapist. That ain't my sin."_

 _"_ _You think you better than us you one hand motherfucker?"_

 _"_ _Fuck… we already in fucking hell… and it's as much ya sin for not doing shit," One of the man spat._

 _"_ _Yea… I fuckin' know."_

 _"_ _Martinez you gonna try and get in that ass?"_

 _"_ _Nah… Can't believe I'm saying this but I agree with the Redneck, what the Governor doing to that woman is fucked up. I ain't tryna get in that."_

 _"_ _More for us, eh Shumpert?"_

 _"_ _Yea… more for us."_

 _xx000xx_

 _"_ _Glenn! Glenn come_ _on! Wake up!"_

 _Glenn felt his shoulder shake violently, he pushed open his eyes and pulled away from the hand that held him; he immediately scampered backwards from Oscar's looming figure taking a moment to remember his surroundings._

 _"_ _Come on… get up."_

 _"_ _What? What's going on?"_

 _"_ _We're getting out of here," T-Dog said filling the space behind Oscar's right shoulder._

 _Glenn ambled to his feet with Oscar aid, once Glenn was up T-Dog handed him a five-inch blade. The three men started out of Glenn cell and came to a stop when his eyes landed on Martinez._

 _"_ _What the fuck is he doing here?"_

 _"_ _He's helping us!" T-Dog snarled._

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _I don't like what's happening here, from what T-Dog said it sound like your leader can put a stop to the Governor," Martinez said._

 _Glenn's gut told him not to trust the man before him but most importantly Glenn wanted to return home. Glaring at the man he asked, "Where are the others? Merle, Shumpert, and Bruce?"_

 _"_ _Fuck if I know but we can stand here and talk about it or get the fuck out of here."_

 _"_ _Glenn let's go! We'll figure it out later!" T-Dog implored._

 _Glenn looked at T-Dog who looked to be fighting a fever, the stump were his hand was cut from bleeding through the bandage._

 _"_ _Let's go!" Glenn commanded._

 _Martinez nodded and started to lead the three men down the corridor. Hope and adrenaline pumped through Glenn's veins as he was lead through the halls of the building; he turned one corner and immediately stop causing Oscar to bump into him._

 _"_ _What the fuck man? Come on let's go!" Oscar said._

 _His thoughts went to the woman in the cell beside his. He turned on his heel and started back towards her cell._

 _"_ _Glenn?" T-Dog harshly whispered yanking Glenn to a stop, Glenn snatched his arms away from his._

 _"_ _I am not leaving that woman for the Governor to continue to torture. I am not!"_

 _"_ _What woman?" T-Dog asked._

 _"_ _You going to risk freedom for a woman you don't know?" Oscar questioned._

 _When Martinez realized the three men weren't behind him, he doubled back and urged them to continue on, "What the hell? Let's go before Bruce and Shumpert make their way here."_

 _"_ _I'm not leaving that woman here!" Glenn said._

 _Glenn watched as Martinez grew agitated at the idea of freeing the woman, "That ain't the plan!"_

 _"_ _Come on Glenn, we can leave her and come back with Rick and the others," Oscar suggested._

 _"_ _I am not going to leave her here one more minute! You all can go but I am going to get her!" Glenn said turning and running off._

 _"_ _Fuck!" Martinez called out._

 _Glenn ran back to the cell in record time with Oscar trailing behind him; using the knife given to him, Glenn jimmy the lock open and pushed the door open._

 _Lights from the hallway flooded the room and the sight that Glenn saw shook him to his very core. Void of any clothing the woman was on her knees with her arms and legs were tied to the walls and ceiling; she was covered in bruises and cuts. As soon as the light hit her, she winced and tried to move away from it. Glenn slowly entered the room with Oscar a step behind him._

 _"_ _Fuck. I didn't… fuck," Oscar mumbled behind him._

 _He ignored the man and moved deeper into the room, she whimpered as he got closer._

 _"_ _Hey…. Hey… I'm not going to hurt you," Glenn said as he kept his eyes on hers. She moved away from him as best as she could but her ropes wouldn't allow for much movement._

 _"_ _Get… the… fuck away!"_

 _"_ _I am not going to hurt you… I swear! I just want to help."_

 _He kept hold of her dark brown eyes and what he saw in the depth of them scared him just as much as the sight of her tied and bruised. Using his blade he cut the first rope and she moved away from him, Glenn held up his hand and moved to his knees and cut one of the ropes from her legs. Moving slow in order not to frighten her he repeated the same with her right side as soon as the ropes are cut she quickly moved to her feet as Glenn divert his eyes and did the same._

 _"_ _Come on, Glenn! We ain't got all day!" Oscar called from the doorway. Glenn quickly removed his shirt and held it out to her. Dark brown eyes stared at him a few seconds before she nodded her head and took it from him. She quickly covered herself with his shirt before awkwardly moving away him and picking up some discarded pants. She slipped into them while Glenn looked around the cell a tray of rusted tools covered in dried blood caught his vision; he looked back at the woman as she tied up boots disheartened that he was unable to help her sooner._

 _Once she was completely dressed, Glenn led them out the cell and down the corridors of towards were they left T-Dog and Martinez._

 _"_ _Y'all took long eno-" Martinez words were cut short as the woman landed a hard punch across his nose causing Martinez to fall to his knees. The woman brought up her knee and connected with his lower jaw causing Martinez to reel backwards from the blow. Glenn grabbed the woman and pulled her away from hitting Martinez again._

 _"_ _DON'T TOUCH ME!" She spat as she ripped herself from Glenn's grasp. Her eyes wide and wild looking around at the men in front of her._

 _"_ _Fucking bitch!" Martinez cried while Oscar helped him to his feet._

 _"_ _I should fucking kill you!"_

 _"_ _We ain't got time for this shit!" Oscar announced._

 _"_ _I fucking swear… I ain't do shit to you! I didn't set up that trap!"_

 _The woman took a step towards him and Glenn blocked her._

 _"_ _You can kill him later on, first let's get out of here," Glenn said reaching out for her. She moved from his touch and glowered at him._

 _"_ _I'm not coming with you."_

 _"_ _There's a prison not too far from here… we have fences and food. Our leader… he's a good man. He'll protect you… keep you safe… he'll-"_

 _"_ _I'm not coming with you." She stated._

 _Looking into her eyes he saw the thirst for vengeance, he knew she wouldn't leave without spilling the blood of those who harmed her and Glenn felt the same need course through him. Greater than that need was returning home, returning to Maggie. He gave her a curt nod and started off with Martinez and the others._

 _"_ _Hey!" She called out. Glenn stopped mid-stride and turned to face her._

 _"_ _Thank you."_

XxXx00000xXxX

Present Day

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Andrea replies quickly wiping away the tears staining her face.

"Nothing? Nothing has you sitting in a dark room wailing like a banshee?"

Andrea recognizes the voice belonging to Darla. She is an original member of Alexandria who align herself with Rick's group as soon as they arrived; Darla was unhappy with the way the community was being lead and as soon as she realize their plans she aligned herself with them. During the months they've been in Alexandria Andrea became close with the woman sharing a home with her and her young daughter as well as Carol. The two women became her closest confidants.

"I wasn't wailing."

"Fine sobbing like a wet cat."

Andrea feels the couch dip besides her and a hand on her knee, "Andrea, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I heard about what happened with that woman, is it because of her? If I was here I would have shot her." Darla declares.

Andrea looks up into Darla's pale caramel face. Darla is a no nonsense pleasantly plump petite Turkish sharp shooter of Alexandria. Her sharpshooting skills and ability second only to Sasha and herself. She knows if Darla was there when the fight happened, Darla wouldn't hesitate to shot Michonne. The thought of such a faithful friend lifts the corner of her lips slightly before they fall again at the thought of Michonne and Rick.

"Rick broke up with me."

"Why?"

"What?" Darla snaps.

Another sob catches in Andrea's chest as she says, "He said we were a mistake."

"Oh honey!" Carol says wrapping her arm around Andrea as her shoulder shakes with tears.

"That bastard!" Darla says moving onto the couch besides Andrea. Andrea cries while her two friends hold and try to comfort her.

"I feel silly. The world is falling apart and I'm crying over a boy," Andrea whimpers. She pulls herself from Darla's and Carol's arms and stands. She wipes her face and turns to the women on the couch, "But I love him!"

"You should feel silly," Darla quips, "But love makes you feel and do stupid things."

"I know… I know it seems pathetic but I care for him… I love him and it feels as if he ripped my heart out of my chest!" Andrea says anger seeping into her words.

Darla tsks and shakes her head, "I warned you about getting involved with him so soon after that Jessie fiasco. That woman was in the ground less than a week and you were already climbing into his bed."

"This thing with Rick and I have been building way before we came here! We have a connection!"

"Sweetie, maybe he just needs time? Maybe he's feeling overwhelmed with having to deal with Negan and leading this community," Carol comforts.

"I could have helped him. I made him stronger... a better leader."

Andrea doesn't miss the grimace on Carol's face as she starts to pace the length of the room. Her tears slowly giving way to anger.

"It feels like my world is coming apart. I love him so much and he… we were good together. I was good for him and he…" Andrea trails off as she wipes away more tears from her face.

"You're an amazing woman! Rick is a fool not to see it. He's a fool not to see your value," Darla states.

"Did he tell you why?" Carol questions.

"He just said he we were a mistake! We were together last night… we made love last night and just this morning he said we were okay and then it all fell apart!"

"So this came out of nowhere?" Carol asks.

"I think he is upset that I didn't tell him about Michonne," Andrea admits.

"Who's Michonne?" Darla asks.

"Negan's whore!"

"The woman you got into with earlier today?"

Darla inhales a sharp breathe as Andrea nods at Carol's question, she exhale and says, "I heard she cut a man's head off."

"She cut off a would be rapist's hand."

"Doesn't sound bad to me," Darla quips.

"Do not get it wrong! Michonne is pure evil!" Andrea sneers unable to hide her anger. Tears no longer hover in her eyes as the thought of Michonne weighs heavily on her mind. She's hurt by the break up with Rick and angry at the unexpected appearance of Michonne. Most importantly there is a fear that settles in her gut at the memory of Rick and Michonne together.

"You told me she was once your friend," Carol says.

"She was and she left me! She left me in Woodbury. It wasn't a perfect town but it was safe. There were walls and food… and she was jealous the Governor did not want her so she came back and burned the place down. She killed innocent people! What kind of friend does that?" Andrea shouts.

She turns and stares at the faces of her two friends. She needs them on her side. She needs them to see things her way. Darla looks angry on her behalf but Carol… Carol looks as if she contemplating everything that Andrea is saying. The Carol from Atlanta, the farm, and the earlier days at the prison wouldn't hesitate to take Andrea's side even the Carol saved them at Terminus but this Carol who returned from the Kingdom with Morgan is different. Andrea needs Carol in order to win over Rick. Seeing the hesitation in her friend's face Andrea collapses in tears onto a nearby chair.

As expected Darla comes to her side first and offers her comfort. Andrea allows her cries to fill the room before she straightens and wipes at her face again.

"I'm sorry… I've just been hormonal lately," from the corner of her eyes she sees Carol's eyebrow raise.

"Hormonal?" Darla repeats, she leans in and squeezes Andrea's thighs, "Andrea…"

The woman doesn't finish. Andrea looks at Darla and then up at Carol holding the older woman's gaze, "I'm late… several weeks."

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Before (approximately 1 years ago – 1 Day after the Woodbury Escape)_

 _The sound of bone crushing and the scream of the man roared over the sound of the engine. Rick placed the vehicle in reversed and ran over the man again, his cry a mere whimper the second time. Rick thought about running him over again for good measure but decided to place the truck in park as he wanted to make sure he properly ended the man's life. He hopped out the truck leaving the door open and swaggered over to the man. He glowered at him while removing his colt from his holster. He removed the safety and aimed the gun at the man's head. The man lifted his head from the ground and began to plead for his life; Rick squeezed the trigger and placed a single bullet into the man's head. He holstered his pistol as he walked back to the truck; he hopped in, placed the truck in drive and drove over the man again for good measure as he returned home._

 _Upon his returned he immediately sought out Glenn. He found the young man crying near the back of the cafeteria sitting beside Hershel. Hershel noticed Rick first._

 _"_ _You found Martinez?"_

 _"_ _Yea he was heading towards Woodbury."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry Rick… I didn't know he only helped us escape in order to find the prison," Glenn said wiping his tears, "I just wanted to come home."_

 _Rick nodded he was sure he would have also led Martinez back to their home if he was in the same predicament._

 _"_ _Where is Martinez?" Hershel asked._

 _"_ _I took care of him," Rick said unapologetic to the older man. He then turned to Glenn and asked, "Tell us what happened at Woodbury. Tell me about this Governor."_

 _Rick listened carefully as Glenn relay his experience at Woodbury. It is when Glenn started crying as he recounted the story of the Governors other prisoner that boiled Rick's blood. His vision coated in red as his only thought is to kill the vile man repeatedly. The thought of what the man did to Glenn, T-Dog, Oscar and the woman spurred him into action, he could not have this man so close to his family, to his sons and new born daughter._

 _Once Glenn finished his telling about his experience Rick moved to his feet jaw clenched and hands fist. His mind raced as to how to take care of this threat._

 _"_ _This ends now!"_

 _Hershel scrambled to stand on his leg while Glenn straightened out as well._

 _"_ _Rick let's think about this calmly and clearly," Hershel started, "I know Lori's death rattled you and you want to take action against anyone but this is not the way."_

 _Rick turned to the older man he respected and admire so much, "This has nothing to do with Lori's death and I am thinking about this clearly. I am thinking about my sons and daughter. I am thinking about my family. I am thinking about what if Maggie went on that run with Glenn or Beth or Carol? I am thinking about going to sleep with this monster so close to all those I love. I am thinking clearly because I will not allow that man to ever get a chance of hurting my family."_

 _xx000xx_

 _They're gathered in the common area of the prison in front of C-block. Rick only retold part of the story about Glenn's, T-Dog's, and Oscar's capture and abused at the hand of the man named the Governor. He doesn't tell about the woman Glenn spoke of. He's worried that would ignite more fear than anger of the man and the people of Woodbury, he also knew if wasn't his story to share. He also tell the group about Martinez only helping the others escape in order to pin down their location; he tell the group how he found Martinez on his way back to Woodbury. Rick announced to the group to get prepare that they were going to end the Governor's reign tonight._

 _"_ _Woodbury is well protected," Oscar announced._

 _"_ _I know how we can get in undetected," Glenn rebuffed._

 _"_ _I think this is too impulsive… we should wait," Carol said._

 _"_ _We can't wait. The Governor will be expecting Martinez back soon. Martinez is dead and he ain't going to be making a return. When the Governor realizes that he'll go on high alert and our opportunity will be missed," Rick explained._

 _Axel, one of Oscar fellow inmate, spoke up his concern, "Oscar said there's a hell of a lot more of them than us."_

 _It was T-Dog still looking ill from the loss of blood and his limb that replied, "We just need to take out the Governor and a few of his key men then the rest of the town will easily fold."_

 _He goes on and tell them about the black doctor, Steven, and her assistant, Sarah he met while in their infirmary. He tell the group about how not everyone in town support the Governor and how many of the citizen of Woodbury live in fear._

 _"_ _We go in a few hours before dawn and take out all the guards as silently as possible. Several people will take care of the guards while I lead a small group to the Governor, T overheard where he lives. We'll find him and end this."_

 _xx000xx_

 _All Michonne's body wanted to do was lay down and sleep but the rage burning inside her wouldn't allow her to rest. Her body ached from her days under the Governor's hand but as she stared down at her handy work it balm her wounds ever so slightly. She wanted there to be more of a sense of satisfaction as she looked down at the damage she inflicted on the man but it there was only a dull ache where her heart used to reside._

 _She knew as she soon as she entered the Governor's home and over took him in surprised that she was going to lose her humanity. A part of her didn't want to become the monster he was but she couldn't help herself, her rage demanded justice for the cruelty he inflicted on her. Her raged demanded she do it all over again and again until it was appeased. She sat beside his mutilated body and allowed the tears to overtake her._

 _The loud knock on his door jolted her out of her self-pity._

 _"_ _GOVERNOR YOU IN THERE!"_

 _"_ _YO PHIL! I don't think that nigger bitch left with Martinez! What happened to your door?"_

 _"_ _I think the bitch is still here in Woodbury!"_

 _"_ _Several guns and shit are missing from the armory!"_

 _"_ _SIR?"_

 _"_ _SAY SOMETHING SIR!"_

 _"_ _WE'RE COMING IN!"_

 _Michonne wiped her tears, she reached for her sword and stood to her feet. She wanted to end his life with the blade of her sword but the sound of the door about to give in gave her paused. She picked up the Governor's discarded gun and aimed it at his head. She removed the safety and placed her finger on the trigger as she was about to squeeze the trigger the door gave way allowing Shumpert and Bruce burst into the room._

 _Their eyes went to the mutilated body of the Governor, shock and horrified at the sight stopped their movement giving Michonne an opportunity to escape but instead she focused her strength and lifted the hand holding the gun firing a single shot to the center of Shumpert's head. He immediately crumpled to the ground, the gunfire shook Bruce from his shock and spurred him into action. He dove away behind the wall as he took out his own weapon. He blindly fired at Michonne, who turned to sprint out the room. She fire several shot back at him before she lowered her gun firing several shots blindly at the Governor hoping one of the bullets ended his miserable life._

 _Michonne climbed out the window and scaled down the building wall using various window ledges and gaps in the building. She dropped onto the ground and willed her sore body to keep moving. She arrived at the building she hid in the day before where she was able to pop her shoulder back into the socket and bandaged several of her worse wounds. She took the day before tending to her wounds and gathering several items from Woodbury's armory before she went and took her own justice from the Governor. She had a small bag filled with smoke bombs, matches, gasoline and other supplies she'll need to burn down part of Woodbury to form a big enough distraction in order to escape. She knew once she killed the Governor there would be a witch hunt for her. Her plan was to set a few building on fire to distract the people of Woodbury long enough for her to make her escape._

 _Sticking to the shadow of night Michonne moved as quickly as her bruised body allowed in and out of empty buildings far away from the sleeping residences and lit them on fire. Once the blaze started growing she used the alleyways and back streets moving as fast as possible towards the lightly guarded northeast wall._ _She pressed herself against the wall of one of the building hiding in against the shadow as the fire started to grow, she could hear the sound of alarm and the distance panic of people._

 _Michonne held up an explosive with one hand and tried to swallow another wave of pain and wariness as she removed the pin with her other hand. As Michonne tossed the live grenade into the empty building Andrea stepped into view and the two women locked eyes the seconds in before the grenade exploded. Andrea called out her name while Michonne turned and started away from the building quickly becoming engulfed in flames. Debris from the building flew out in all directions as Michonne quickly moved toward the gate with the sound of Andrea yelling out her name melding with the screams and cries filling the night air. She moved quickly away from the sound of her old friend and the fires of Woodbury._

 _As she neared the wall she watched as several guards from the nearby wall ran passed her. She waited few minutes and started towards the wall when she ran into a young woman who help guard the northeast wall._ _The woman stumble a step back quickly taking in Michonne bruised face and bloody clothes she quickly lifted her crossbow to Michonne; the girl opened her mouth to speak but Michonne side stepped her and swung her sword at the girl. The girl moved faster than Michonne thought she would be able to and out of the way of the arch of Michonne's sword. As the girl moved Michonne lifted her sore left arm and fired a wild shoot clipping the girl in her biceps at the same moment the girl fired her crossbow which hit Michonne directly in her left shoulder._

 _Michonne cried out in pain and almost crumbled to her knees. She swallowed the rest of her cry and clenched her teeth, using her right hand she gingerly but quickly removed the weapon from her torn flesh. She tossed it onto the ground, the girl had dropped to her knees in pain at being shoot also dropping her weapon; Michonne walked up to the girl and fired a shot in her head before she had a chance to even plead for her life. She stepped over the girl's body and started towards wall again when a figure moved from the shadow directly blocking her path._

 _"_ _Ah-ah-uh!"_

 _Immediately she recognized the voice belonging to Merle one of the Governor's goons. The gun in her hand shook violently, her hand screamed from the pain radiating from her shoulders. Focusing her gaze, she steady her hand and squeezed the trigger as Merle stepped in front of her. The gun clicked loudly notifying her and Merle she was out of bullets. Michonne dropped her hand to her side but kept her grip on the gun, her muscles relaxed slightly from the jester with instant relief. She had extra clips she stolen but she didn't have the strength or speed to reload the firearm._

 _"_ _You were gonna shoot me?" Merle asked as he leveled his own weapon at Michonne._

 _"_ _I was going to kill you."_

 _"_ _Hey! I ain't the one who tied you up!"_

 _"_ _No… you're the one who set that trapped for me! You brought me back here! You handed me to him."_

 _"_ _I ain't know he was gonna do this… I may be a shitty person but fuck… I ain't a fuckin' monster."_

 _"_ _You're just as guilty for standing by and doing nothing."_

 _Merle opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out._

 _"_ _I am going to kill you!" Michonne stated._

 _"_ _Well you did fucking try!"_

 _Michonne slipped the gun into the back of her jeans before she placed both hands on her blade lifting it up ready to attack Merle, "Not hard enough."_

 _"_ _I'll get several shoots off before you even reach me with that sword."_

 _"_ _I may go down but I will take you with me."_

 _They locked eyes and stared at each other for a minute before Merle dropped his firearm to his side._

 _"_ _I ain't no fuckin' monster… what he did- shit is fucked up and it shouldn't have happened… but you're right… I'm just as guilty."_

 _Michonne continued to glare at him wondering his game; there's was a loud explosion that lit the night sky and shook the ground of the town that stunned them both. The explosion was followed by the scream of people. Michonne ignored the cry in the night and focused on Merle still unsure his motive until he finally moved aside giving her a clear path to the gate._

 _"I ain't no fuckin' monster... g_ _o on get," Merle said. Michonne only glared at him confused with his action, "I said go on get… before I change my mind."_

 _With the sword still lifted Michonne started toward the gate but never gave Merle her back. While she backed away from him, Merle gave her his back and start toward the commotion in the center of the town when Bruce stepped in front of him. Bruce eyes goes from Merle to Michonne who backed away from him. As he lifted up his gun, Michonne turned and summons all her strength and broke out into a sprint. A bullet breezed by her, she glanced back to see Merle and Bruce fighting one another._

 _"_ _You coon loving traitor!" is all Michonne heard from Bruce as she placed distance between her and the two men. Once at the wall she tossed her bag over the wall and quickly climbed the ladder placed against it. At the top she noticed walkers moving from the woods towards the light of the fire and scream of people. Michonne dropped her sword near the bag and as carefully as possible scaled down the wall. Once her feet touched the ground outside the gates of Woodbury she inhaled deeply._

 _She hoped to inhale a cleansing breath and a feeling of freedom would rush over her but she felt nothing. She was numbed to the world. After picking up her sword and bag as well as moving a safe distance from Woodbury she watched the fires climbed tall against the night sky. She knew the death of her son ripped away her heart; she also knew Woodbury took away the remaining pieces of her soul. She turned away from the place and disappeared into the woods a completely different person than when she first arrived._

 _xx000xx_

 _"_ _Look!" Sasha pointed to the skyline ahead of them. Sasha was one of the most recent member to join their group. She along with her brother Tyrese, and two other men arrived at the prison only a week ago but she was one of the first to volunteer for the mission. All eyes followed the direction she pointed to._

 _An orange flickering light illuminated the night sky._

 _"_ _Fire," Glenn marveled._

 _"_ _Somebody got to Woodbury before we did?" Daryl asked._

 _"_ _Come on!" Rick said as he started sprinting towards the town._

 _As they arrived at Woodbury the gates were opened and people were flooding out of the place. A loud explosion sounded from the center of town while large flames erupted into the night sky. Flaming debris land on nearby building instantly catching them on fire._

 _"_ _Rick!" Maggie screamed. He turned his attention to her to see her fighting off a walker. Rick noticed the Walker was recently turned and carried a rifle around its neck, he quickly surmised some of the turned Walkers were guards who were taken by surprised._

 _"_ _Tyrese, Rob, Oscar help Maggie take care of these Walkers! Daryl, Sasha, and Axel help these people. T-Dog and Glenn with me!"_

 _Woodbury was chaos. Rick knew they would never find the doctor T-dog spoke about in the mess that was now Woodbury in order to get the Governor's location so Rick chanced it and asked a Woodbury man who laid dying on the street after being bitten._

 _"_ _Help me!" the man cried out._

 _"_ _I will… where is the Governor? We need to find him."_

 _With winded breathe the man gave the location of the Governor's home. As Rick moved to stand, the man cried out for help. He knelled down and placed a sharp blade into the temple of the man ending his life quickly._

 _Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick quickly made their way to the Governor's home in the midst of the chaos. When they arrived the door to his home was kicked in and splintered open. With their weapons raised they cautiously entered the apartment and found the living room covered in blood._

 _"_ _Is that an eye?" Glenn asked._

 _"_ _Fuck… I think that's a…" T-Dog was unable to finish his sentence, he immediately left the front room but Rick could still hear the sound of him throwing up in the hallway. Along with an eyeball there was the remaining part of a man's phallus nailed to a wooden board, a part of an arm, a spoon covered with blood, a bloody drill and other items scattered around the room._

 _"_ _She did this," Glenn declared._

 _Rick took another look around the room and nod his approval, "Good. I hope she killed him."_

 _Rick then turned and left the apartment with Glenn following after him and T-Dog pulling up the rear. Down on the street of Woodbury the fires burned brightly and the dead attacked the living while the living try to escape the fires that started to consume the town._

 _The three men joined in controlling the chaos, in the midst of it all Rick looked up and see a ghost swiftly running towards him. Andrea. Her face lit up as she ran at him; once she reached him she threw herself into his arm and hugged him. Rick pulled away from her in shock._

 _"_ _Rick!" Andrea yelled._

 _"_ _What are you doing here?" Rick asked._

 _"_ _I'll explain later! Please, help me save these people!" She cried out._

 _He stared at her for several seconds before he nodded as he did relief washed over her face; the pair dove head first into the mayhem saving people from the fires of Woodbury._

 _xx000xx_

 _He watched her from a distance as she smiled and talked to one of the newest arrival at the prison. It has been a week since the survivors of Woodbury were taken in by Rick and his group; the people were still shaken up by the events of what took placed and no one could tell them exactly what happened in Woodbury. The story was the same from practically everyone, they were awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of gunfire and then smoke, when people saw several building on fire that is when panic set in. The survivors said they're leader the Governor as well as his main men were nowhere to be found and the other guards had either taken off or were turned. The thriving community of sixty plus people was nearly cut in half by the destruction leaving about thirty-three survivors, mainly women, children and the elderly._

 _There were two surprises that came from Woodbury, Merle and Andrea, both who Rick thought they lost months ago. Daryl was happy to be reunited with his brother Merle even though the rest of the group didn't feel the same. Merle was still a bigot and as crude as ever but the man kept his distance from the majority of the group by his own free will. Merle also offered up nothing about Woodbury only stating that he couldn't find the Governor's body in the rumble remains of Woodbury. He was convinced the man was still alive and made it his personal mission to eradicate him from the world. Rick didn't care so long as Merle behaved and followed the rules set by the newly formed counsel._

 _Andrea was the biggest surprise._ _The Woodbury survivors all stated that Andrea was fairly new at Woodbury, barely there a week and she already placed herself in a position of leadership. They also mentioned that Andrea and the Governor were close but no one knew the extent of their relationship. It seemed as if the people of Woodbury respected and looked up to Andrea._

 _"_ _They settling in okay?" Rick asked slowly approaching Andrea as the elderly woman walked back towards cell block D._

 _"_ _Yes, it is still a lot to get used to. They lost their friends, some their family, and they lost their homes but they'll be fine eventually."_

 _"_ _They will," Rick said before focusing his full attention on Andrea, "How did you end up in Woodbury? How did you survive all this time?"_

 _Andrea sighed and shook her head, she had to know the question was coming. He gave her enough time to settle in and help the others before he asked her the questions that had plague his mind since the moment he saw her in the middle of the burning town._

 _"_ _I had a friend at least I thought she was my friend. She saved me in the woods after the farm was overran. I should have known she was crazy… she used to talk to her pets… these two armless walkers she had on chains but I owed her my life. I felt in debt to her, so I stayed with her. I stayed with her for eight months and together we survived winter. We started to grow apart to be honest I don't think we were ever like mind or that we were ever friends. I wanted to find a group or a community… people to join and build something…sh-she just wanted to walk aimlessly with her pets. We kept away from people until we saw the helicopter crash that's when we met… Phi- the Governor. He seemed like decent people. Maggie told me that he captured and beat Glenn, T-Dog and the other guy. I didn't know…" Andrea paused and closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them, they glisten with the threat of tears, "I'm sorry that happened to them."_

 _"_ _Did Maggie tell you anything else?" Rick asked._

 _Andrea's eyes went wide a fraction before she shook her head no, "Did something else happen?"_

 _"W_ _hat happened to your friend?" Rick prompted. She closed her eyes again and when she opened them several tear drops fell from her eyes rolling down her cheeks. Rick reached out and squeezed her shoulder, he hated seeing women cry._

 _Andrea placed a hand over his and gave it a light squeeze before she nodded and spoke, "She became paranoid. Threatening to kill people and breaking into houses. I think she was jealous the Governor was more interested in me than her."_

 _"_ _Were you and the Go-"_

 _"_ _NO!" Andrea answered quickly cutting him off. Rick's eyes narrowed as he looked at Andrea, she inhaled a shaking breath and wiped her face, "No, he was nice to me but… no… nothing happened."_

 _Rick's gut wrenched in disbelief but he quelled the feeling as Andrea continued, "She left, wanted me to leave too but I decided to stay. Things were well… at least I thought so and then I heard gunfire. I- I saw her Rick… she stared into my eyes as she lit that building on fire! I begged her not to but she… her eyes were dead. Maybe… maybe I could have stopped her. I tried but… maybe I didn't try hard enough."_

 _Her blue eyes swelled with unshed tears as her shoulders began to tremble, Rick gave another reassuring squeeze to her shoulder and the blonde woman fall against his chest. Awkwardly Rick pat's her back as she cried into his shirt, discomfort crawled beneath the surface of his chest and as he loosely held onto her._

 _"_ _It is alright… y'all safe now. It is going to be rough but those people are survivors, they'll be alright. You'll be alright. " He said. Andrea pulled her head and looked up at him with needy blue eyes. He gave her another quick pat on the shoulder before putting distance between them. Andrea stepped forward and Rick involuntarily took a step back; he knew Atlanta Andrea, he knew Farm Andrea but this Andrea he didn't know her quite yet. Her story sounded true but Rick couldn't push out the thought of the mysterious woman who was the Governor's prisoner._

 _An unsettling moment of silence fell between them. Rick watched her with a weary gaze, there was something disconcerting about Andrea but he couldn't pin-point it or the cause of it. He shook off the feeling and chalked it up to the recent accumulative events that included the loss of Lori, the birth of his daughter, the fires of Woodbury, the mysterious woman who Glenn saved, and the return of an old friend, Andrea._

 _"_ _I'm going to go check on the boys and Judith," Rick said as a way to dismiss himself from her presence. She only nodded, he started away from her when Andrea called after him; Rick paused and looked over his shoulders at the woman._

 _"_ _Thank you, Rick. Thank you for being my friend and trusting me," Andrea said with a soft smile._

XxXx00000xXxX

Present Day

He watches her from a distance. By the set of her shoulder and the tight smile she wears he can tell she's still upset from earlier. He wonders what bothers her more, her long lost friend Michonne's sudden appearance or their break up. He looks at her with a different light, feeling as if the blinders that he wore for so long were suddenly ripped off. Rick blames no one else for the blinders but himself, he promises himself never to be place in that situation again. Andrea looks up and they lock eyes for a moment, Rick gives her a head nod, she returns it a gives him a tight smile that fails to reach what Rick can only describe as calculating eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello all!**

 **First: I am so sorry about the long wait for the update. Hopefully, you all are still with me.**

 **Second: This is another long chapter. I was going to split it into two parts but I want to move this story along so therefore another long chapter was needed. So please, pace yourself.**

 **Third: I'm sorry... you'll know why at the end. Sorry.**

* * *

 **L4yers of Moonlight**

"So, you broke up with her?"

Rick turns to see his oldest standing in the kitchen doorway with a wide smile.

"Stop gloating."

"What? This face? This smile? This is not my gloating face. This is my thank goodness you finally came to your senses face."

Rick tries to give Carl a hard stare but fails. A small smirk pulls at the edge of his lips while the young man only smiles wider.

"Admit it… it feels good to be free of the ball and chain."

Rick chuckles and shakes his head.

"She wasn't all that bad."

"Dad she was awful. She second guessed your decision and leadership every step of the way," Carl says as he comes and sits by his father, "She was toxic."

"She challenged me. A challenged can help you be better."

Carl gives his father a disbelieving look before he sighs and drops his head. He takes off his Sheriff's hat and places it on the kitchen table in front of them. He runs his hand through his long hair pulling it away from his face before he lifts his head and turns to his father, "Please don't defend her. I know what you're trying to do and I won't go calling her a bitch-"

"Watch your mouth!" Rick chides him.

He nods quickly and continues on, "I am just saying I think there's a way to challenge a person but still be supportive and not undermining. Andrea was undermining your leadership and decision making at every chance she got."

"When did you come an expert on relationship?"

His son chuckles and shakes his head, "Trust me… I'm not. It is just I… I hated seeing you with her because she second guess almost everything you did and that was before you all started dating and it only got worse. It caused you to second guess and doubt yourself," Carl pauses and locks eye with him and with all seriousness says, "I know being a leader is hard and I know you didn't do it by yourself but we're here because you lead us here."

"Thanks for the prep talk, son. I should be the one giving you advice."

Carl chortle and says, "I'm just glad y'all broke up."

"Yea… it was overdue," Rick says scratching his beard.

The young man tilts his head in a fashion similar to Rick and squint his eye at his father before he asks, "Why did you wait so long? Why break up with her now?"

"I was waiting for the right time… the right moment but it never came. This morning-" Rick pauses and recalls his conversation with Andrea.

The way she was questioning his decision making and then comparing him to Shane. Even though she didn't finish her statement, Rick knew in that moment he needed to end things with Andrea. In all honesty, he should have never started anything with the woman and if he could go back to change things he would but he knew his reality.

Automatically his thought leads him to Michonne as it has been doing all day, seeing her again jolted and tilted his entire world. He questioned himself all day if seeing her again had anything to do with his break up with Andrea; it possibly did but he knew, the dissolve of his relationship with Andrea was inevitable whether he reunited with Michonne or not.

"Dad?" Carl calls out pulling Rick from his thoughts. He focuses his eyes on Carl and realign his thoughts.

"This morning, I knew before the day was over I needed to end things with her. It was long overdue," Rick finally answers.

Carl gives a short nod before he moves his eyes away from his father's. The young man starts to fidget in his seat before he starches the back of his neck looking sheepish he asks, "Did you love her?"

Rick doesn't hesitate to answer, "No, I was never in love with Andrea. I love her like I love Maggie, Carol, Glenn, and the others."

Carl nods taking in his father's words for consideration.

"Dad were you ever in love?"

The question takes Rick by surprise, "Why are you asking?"

"I think I'm in love with Enid… and I want to know how it feels like… I want to be sure."

Rick closes his eyes as the image of Michonne comes to the forefront of his mind with ease. He inhales and whispers, "You can't control it. It is different for everyone, sometimes it happens slowly, taking months maybe even years to come to fruition. You spend countless hours with a person and then one day when you look at them you come to the full realization how much they mean to you and how much you love them."

Rick pauses and opens his eyes focusing on the trees gently blowing in the wind outside the kitchen window. He takes a few seconds to collect his thoughts before he continues, "Other times… other times it is happens so quickly… just a glance into each other's eyes. I once read somewhere that 'love isn't something you find, love is something that finds you'. When it does find you, it is a whirlwind that steals yours breathe, causes your heart to races, and sets your soul on fire. It is scares you shitless but it is intoxicating and overwhelming and you yearn for every part of it because as scared as you are it is instinctive and effortless. It scary to open yourself to this person but it also gives you a courage and strength you never knew you had. Just being in their presence brings you a peace so profound it shakes and calms you to your core. Whether it takes time or it is at first sight you want that person to be in every part of your life because you know somehow your life is incomplete without them."

"You're not talking about mom are you?"

His eyes snaps to his son, there's a tinge of sadness at the edge of his blue eye.

"Did you ever love her? All I remember are the fights. I mean there were some good days too, like the day we went to the country fair a few months after mom's…" Carl trails off for a seconds looking for the right words to say, "After mom's accident and things got better for a while but there was always a lot of fighting or silence."

"I'm sorry you had to see all of that, son."

"I know… I know you tried to protect me by not saying anything but I think it made things worse with mom."

"I love your mom, she was my first love. She also gave me you and Judith, so she'll always have a special place in my heart. Your mom and I, we got married young… we fought so hard to try to make it work and it just made it worse. We were fighting for two different things."

Carl nods, he's quiet for a moment and asks, "This woman who you were in love with, what happened to her?"

"Why are you asking all these questions," Rick sidesteps the question not quite ready to tell Carl about him and Michonne.

"I want to be with Enid and I'm afraid after what almost happen to her… she will not want to be with me."

"You're too young to be thinkin' about sex!"

"Dad! Gosh…. I… I… ugh… I'm… Damnit!" Carl stutters becoming fluster with his dad, "I'm not talking about that! I tried to hug her and she didn't want me to touch her… I think she's freaked out about what almost happened."

"You have to be patient with her, give her time and space she needs. You have to listen to her and respect her wishes, let her know she's in control but also that you are there if she needs you."

"But what if she can't get over it? Or what if it takes her awhile to get over it?"

"I didn't say it is going to be easy or that everythan' gonna be okay overnight; it will take time for her to come to terms with what almost happened to her. You'll have to give her time and just be there for her."

"What if she doesn't ever want to be with me?"

"Then you be a good friend."

He could tell Carl is not happy with the reply but he accepts it just the same, Rick moves to his son and squeeze his shoulder.

"Enid is strong, just give her some time and space. She'll be okay."

Carl nods. Their quiet moment is blissfully interrupted with Judith's babbling, both men turn to watch as Dre walks into the kitchen struggling as he carefully carries Judith in his arms.

"Daddy! Carl! Didi pooped!"

XxXx00000xXxX

As soon as she wakes she knows she's will not be going back to sleep anytime soon. She wakes alone in bed, Negan is gone but there's a note on her desk that tells her to eat. She rolls her eyes as she fights a smile. Michonne thinks about going to Negan and finally giving herself to him, her body snaps fully awake and hums at the thought.

It feels as if the event of the morning didn't take place, it feels as if it was all a bad dream but as she moves around her room the memory of the day fully settles upon her. It is almost eight o'clock in the evening when she leaves her room fully dress. She takes her meal and eats on the go as she quietly walks around the compound. She finds herself at a fork in the hallways, one leads to Negan's lush quarter and the other leads outside.

A part of her wants to go to Negan's quarter. She wants to thank him for the tenderness he shown her today. She wants him to relieve some of the ache welling inside of her. She wants to find comfort in his arms again even if it is only momentarily. Yet, a bigger part of her feels the pull that something else awaits her.

The sun has set for the day and darkness takes hold the remaining hours of the day with the moonlight fading in and out of the cloudy night skies. The Sanctuary is unusually quiet, it seems as if most of the residence has settle in for the day. Michonne finds herself outside taking in the cool night breeze, she sits in a dark shadow replaying the day event when a dark figure catches her eyes sneaking towards the gates. She pulls herself onto her feet, swings her blade over her shoulder as the figure moves behind the brushes. She waits for the person to reappear, when they don't she silently follows after them.

The overgrown bush hides a narrow exit in the gate. Her thoughts unsolicited goes to Carl thinking of the young man and his failed attempt to escape the Sanctuary. He was going to make his exit via the narrow opening Michonne finds herself staring at. Remembering Carl, Michonne acts on instinct and crawls through the hole ending up on the other side of the gate that protects the Sanctuary. Peering into the night she catches a flash of a blue shirt in the moonlight moving swiftly through the woods. Michonne follows the person curious to know who it is and where they are going.

XxXx00000xXxX

Two hours after leaving the Sanctuary, Michonne finds herself outside the wall of Alexandria staring at the high walls and contemplating her next decision. She followed the figure that revealed themselves as Dwight deep into the woods miles away from the Sanctuary until he unearthed a motorcycle that he had hidden away. Once he climbed onto the bike and started south, Michonne knew two things. First, he was headed towards Alexandria and second, he was the traitor Negan was searching for.

Michonne could have gone back to the Sanctuary and informed Negan about her findings instead she double back towards a ghost town nearby the Sanctuary for a vehicle. The town is deserted and has been since the Saviors took up residency in the foundry but Michonne keeps a fully stock car in the town hidden in plain sight. The car is a rust bucket, strip of two spark plugs and a starter wire that Michonne keeps wrap around the handle of her blade. Once she gets the car started, she keeps the lights off and heads west before changing her direction turning south towards Alexandria.

Miles away from the community she hides the car and makes it appear as if it is abandon before she races on foot towards the community dodging the moonlight and keeping to the shadow of the night. She moves toward the east wall where the trees are closer to the wall and there's more space between the guard watch points. Michonne climbs a sturdy tree stealthy and swiftly, she chooses a high thick branch and gingerly crawls over it towards the wall. Once she reaches the wall Michonne uses one of the wooden support beams and scales down the wall inside of Alexandria.

She finds breathing difficult as she wonders why she feels nervous and questions her decision. She acted on impulse, something she rarely does. She's normally thinks things through and tries to figure out every angle but being in Alexandria now after she swore to herself she'll never return is far from her normal behavior. She pushes away the reasons for her erratic action, deciding to ponder them later. She knows the danger she's putting herself in by being in Alexandria; instead of turning and leaving she sleuths deeper into the community something she doesn't want to quite name propelling her forward.

Creeping around the quiet town it is the sound of a child's laughter that captures her attention, she pauses and listen intensely to the sound. When she hears the soft giggle again she follows it to a nearby house. The giggle comes out louder as she nears the open window, throwing caution to the wind Michonne creeps up into the bush and climbs onto trunk of the bush hoisting herself up she glances into the softly lit house.

The scene before her warms the place her heart use to reside, inside the house there's a little girl who appears to be eight-year-old with pale honey skin and a wide smile. She giggles while being cradle in an older woman's arm as she reads to the child making different voices and faces. Michonne first thoughts goes to Andre, she swallows her tears and anguish as she watches the scene before her.

"One more chapter please, Ms. Niedermeyer?" the young girl begs.

"Alice, I've read you 'one more chapter' three chapters ago. Ol' Miss Meyers is tired sweetie, plus your momma won't be please to return and see you still up."

"Please! One more chapter and I promise, I'll go straight to bed!"

The woman makes a face before she relents, "Okay one more then off to bed you go," the woman says opening the book again.

"Whoa there."

Says a gruff voice behind her. Michonne tense as she feels something sharp touch the back of her head.

"Slowly now."

She lowers herself before she raises her hand and backs away from the window moving quietly so not to disturb or alarm the woman and child inside. The weapon at the back of her head moves as she does; once they're away from the house and he instructs her to keep her hands up as he takes the sword from her back.

"Com' on," the man says as he guides her deeper into the community. He directs her through the community as he remains behind her; he makes sure they stay away from the main streets, sticking to the back alleyways and yard of people's homes. Michonne tries to turn to face the man but he sternly tells her not to, she obeys and bids her time knowing as soon as she sees an opportunity she'll strike. She refuses to be taken prisoner again. They stop in the back yard of a large house when the man behind her whistles. He waits a moment and whistles again. A minute later, a woman's silhouette appears in the back window a rifle aim in her direction.

"Get Rick."

At the mention of his name, Michonne feels the familiar ache and boiling rage. The woman nods once before disappearing from the window.

 _This is why you came alone, to see him again,_ she tells herself. She quells her inner voice as a conflicting rage and longing churns within her.

Bright lights illuminate the yard as the back door opens with a loud crash, his silhouette fills the door frame before he steps out into the night. Rick pauses briefly as his eyes land on Michonne, the man behind her still holds his weapon level with her head. Several others rush out around him and aim their weapons at her.

"You check her for weapons?" a thick shoulder man with bar handle mustache asks.

"I ain't got but two hands," the man behind her calls out.

"Sasha," Rick instructs with the call of her name. The woman who answered the whistle swings her rifle over her shoulder and moves down the steps onto the lawn. She locks eyes with Michonne before she starts to reveal Michonne of her weapons. Sasha takes the three guns she carries, one at her thigh, another at the small of her back, and one strap to her ankle.

Michonne never used to be much of a gun person, still is not. She prefers her blade but coming into Alexandria she was going to be prepared not knowing what to expect. The woman, Sasha, pats her down and finds her knife and relieves her of it.

After she's sure she's been stripped of her weapons, Sasha steps away from Michonne and lifts her rifle halfway at her and declares, "She's clean."

The sharpness at the back of her head eases as the man behind her steps away. Michonne doesn't chance a look but knows his weapon is still aim at her. She looks over the gather group at the back of the house and tries to memorize their faces. There's four of them in total not counting the man behind her. Rick, the woman Sasha, the man with handle bar mustache, and another young woman with dark hair. After she takes in each face her eyes returns to Rick who steadily watches her, he takes a step down the stairs of the back porch when the door opens and several more people flood out the house.

"What's taking so-" Michonne recognizes Andrea's voice as soon as she hears it. When the blonde woman looks upon Michonne her sentence is cut off.

"Fuck! Isn't that the woman from-"

"Michonne! What the fuck is she doing here?" Andrea shouts.

"Found her sneaking about," the man behind her states.

"How did she get-" The young man who stands next to Andrea words get cut short as Andrea's face distorts with rage and she explodes with action bypassing Rick and leaping off the porch rushing towards Michonne.

"You fucking bitch! Are you trying to burn down another town?" Andrea yells before she has a chance to reach her, Rick's arms go around her waist lifting her up and pulling her away.

"Andrea!" He growls low but loud enough for all to hear him. She tears herself from his arms and moves away from him staggering into the arms of the young man she cut off.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Andrea shouts at Rick and the young man as she moves away from him.

"How did you get in?"

"East wall. This place is well protected took a while to figure out a way in but the east wall… there are large trees growing close to the wall. Easy to climb, easy to use a thick branch and get over the wall. You should do something about that."

A hush of whispers and murmurs runs through the crowd at Michonne's response.

"What did she see?" Asks a woman with short gray hair still standing on the back porch while the others move onto the lawn with Michonne as Andrea and Rick did.

"Don't know… just saw her sulking about," the man behind her answers, "Was staring into ya house window."

Another woman standing next to the gray hair woman wearing a black hijab around her hair face's pale as her mouth drops open. Michonne can see the fear in her eyes, "Ms. Niedermeyer and Alice?"

The man behind her grunts a reply and the woman in the hijab quickly starts down the stairs and races toward the direction Michonne and the man behind her came from. Michonne quickly surmises the little girl must be her daughter, a wave of jealousy pass through her. She pushes down the jealousy as she locks eyes with Rick again.

Without turning his eyes from her he orders, "Tara go with Darla."

The woman with the brunette hair nods and quickly follows Darla.

"What did you see?" Sasha questions her.

Michonne pulls her gaze from Rick and looks at Sasha before glancing at the other faces briefly. Her eyes go from Sasha to Rick then back to Sasha. She hasn't see much besides the older woman and child but Michonne will not tell them that.

Instead of answering the question, Michonne calls out, "Dwight! Dwight why don't you come out! I know you're in there."

Several people start whispering at once while Rick continues to stare at her with his steady blue gaze, it unnerves hers. She tries not to show how much being under his intense glare affects her. The back door to the house opens and Dwight walks out followed by Rick's son Carl, another brunette with shorter hair, and another young man.

It is not Dwight or Carl that steals her breath away and grabs hold of her full attention, it is the young Asian man that steps through the doors last. His hair is longer, he looks a little older with a rough scruff of facial hair causing him to look slightly mature but he is the same man who freed her from the cell in Woodbury. She will never forget his face or his kindness. Michonne stares at the young Asian man, she sees the recognition in his eyes as he stares back at her.

"Fuck!" Dwight exclaims as he walks down the stairs towards Michonne.

She ignores him and speaks in awe to the young man, "These are your people?"

Dwight starts to speak but the man takes a step forward and nods, he clears his throat and talks over Dwight, "Yes, these are my people. My wife," he points to the woman who stands slightly behind him, "My family and my closest friends."

"Wait you know Glenn? How do you know Glenn?" Carl asks from the porch moving closer towards the steps but is stopped by Rick's raised hand.

"Glenn?" Michonne asks.

"Yea… we never got a chance for a proper introduction. I'm Glenn Rhee."

"First Andrea! Now Glenn! Fuck do you know anyone else?" Asks the mustache handle man.

Michonne's eyes fleetingly go to Rick before they return to Glenn.

"You know Glenn?" Andrea asks her voice climbing in pitch.

"How do you know Glenn?" Carl repeats.

"Woodbury…. Glenn… he freed me." Michonne answers.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner," Glenn chokes out.

"What the fuck do you mean Glenn freed you? Andrea said you ran off and came back to burn the place down," the mustache man says.

"So, that's the story she's been feeding you all?" Michonne asks with an amuse smirk puling her eyes away from Glenn to land on Andrea.

"Story? You fucking bitch! You burned down that town and killed innocent people!" Andrea shouts moving towards Michonne again but once more Rick stops her.

"Only after your boyfriend, the Governor, held me prisoner at Woodbury. That monster of a man, he tortured me and -," Michonne clamps her mouth shut and clench her teeth before her eyes returns to the young man, "It doesn't matter… Glenn help me escape."

"I was held prisoner in the room next to Michonne," Glenn replies.

"You were in Woodbury?" Carl asks her.

Michonne and Glenn only nod as they regard each other in awe.

"You didn't tell us she was a prisoner!" the gray hair woman says. Michonne can hear the anger in her voice. She's familiar with the emotion and it rings clearly in her ears.

"It changes nothing! She's still the fucking enemy!" Andrea replies vehemently.

"Andrea's right! It doesn't fucking matter what happened before, she's with the asshat Negan."

"How did you know I was here?" Dwight asks but doesn't allow her to answer before he observes, "You followed me!"

"You signed your own ticket to hell," Michonne comments softly moving her eyes from Glenn to Dwight, "When Negan finds out he's not going to kill you at first; he's going to do much worst to you, not only to you but to Sherry-"

"Sherry ain't got nothing to do with this! This is all me!" Dwight cuts her off.

Michonne shrugs carelessly and continues smoothly, "It doesn't matter. She may truly be innocent but she's guilty by association especially after last time. Negan is going to make an example out of you and when you're begging for death he's going to start all over."

"Shut-up!" Andrea shouts exploding with a renew anger she tries to move towards Michonne but the young man blocks her path. Michonne's head turns in Andrea's direction for a few seconds before turning her eyes onto Rick.

Gazing deeply into his eyes she says, "You all won't escape his wrath. He's going to kill just enough of you to make an everlasting statement. The others will live only to keep his community feed with food and supplies but arm men will be at every post and on every corner."

"You threatin' us?" the man behind her growls.

Michonne doesn't remove her eyes from Rick as he takes a step towards her. As he gets closer to her the air around them pulse with an energy of familiarity.

"You'll know when I threaten you. This is a warning…" Michonne starts she doesn't know where it comes from or why she's even saying this but she continues, "I am warning you."

Unable to continue to hold onto Rick's gaze she breaks away and looks around at the gather individuals as she speaks, "Negan already suspects something; a traitor within the Saviors and a potential coup from the Alexandrian. How long do you think it will take for him to figure it out? Whatever you have planned you will only have one chance to execute it. Only one chance."

Dwight looks grief stricken as Michonne speaks, she can see the truth of her statement in his eyes. Several members of Rick's group shift on their feet and starts to whisper among each other yet Rick looks steady.

"She's fucking lying!" Andrea yells out and quiets the others, "This is a fucking sick game she's playing! She wants to scare us and have us abandon our plans!"

"I'm sure you'll survive just like a cockroach."

"Shut-up!" Andrea shouts again, this time successfully lunging at Michonne. Her palms race across Michonne's face, a loud smack fills the quiet space of the night. Michonne's head whips back but she turns and give Andrea a quiet smirk.

XxXx00000xXxX

Even her menacing smirk is sexy, Rick reels back his emotions at seeing her again. Snapping out of the trance of seeing her again up close, he clears his mind and thinks as the leader and not some lovesick fool. Andrea moves to hit Michonne again, he quickly grabs her hand and pulls Andrea away before she can hit her again. Andrea snatches herself away from Rick and sneers at him; she's still hurting and angry from their breakup, he can see the pain etch on her face and swimming in her blue eyes but he doesn't have the time or patience to tend to Andrea's emotional wounds.

"She broke into our home, Rick! She's threatening us. Our family. Our friends. Our home and you are protecting her?" Andrea shouts.

"Shhhh…. Quiet!" Rick says in a loud whisper, "We don't have time for your temper tantrum. If she followed Dwight here then she might not be alone, others could have followed too."

His eyes return to Michonne who looks cool, calm, and collected as if she's strolling down the street and not standing surrounded by a dozen guns aim at her. Rick breaks his intense eye contact with the woman and looks around at his people, "We need a parameter check, see if there has been or are any other people out there. Morgan, Holly, and Glenn."

"I'll go too!" Andrea says in a huff of anger as she follows the others away from the back yard.

"I'll go with her-"

"No!" Rick cuts off Spencer, "You and Carol discreetly check on the people. They don't need to be alarmed, get Eric, Darla, and Tara to help. Go door to door and make sure everybody is safe and accounted for."

A look of annoyance crosses his face but he doesn't dispute Rick's order; he nods as Carol climbs down the stairs. She gives Michonne a long stare before she follows Spencer.

Rick watches them for a moment before he continues to dole out instructions, "Abraham, Rosita, Eugene and Heath go out and check up on the lookouts."

The four nod to Rick and quickly leave the yard as well.

"Maggie!" Rick calls out beckoning Maggie to his side. Maggie quickly makes her way down the stairs by his side, Rick leans in and whispers instruction into her ears. Maggie nods and quickly turns and runs back inside the house.

"Dwight go with Maggie!"

"What about Michonne?"

"Go with Maggie," Rick repeats in a tone that allows no room for conversation. Dwight looks at Michonne one more time before he nods and follows Maggie.

"Sasha go to Olivia's and have her check on our inventory. Then you and Daryl sweep inside the community, check out the blind spots."

Daryl nods and asks, "Y'all got her?"

"Yea, we do," Carl says with a nod.

Daryl hands Rick Michonne's sword while Sasha gives the woman's weapon to Carl. After the last two leave to go complete their assignment Michonne is left with himself and Carl, both men have their guns out but neither are pointed in her direction.

"Check to see if it's empty," Rick says to Carl. The young boy moves backwards before completely turning around and stepping inside the house.

XxXx00000xXxX

Michonne eyes goes from Carl to find Rick's staring at her. She returns his stare. She sees the lost in his eyes, the hurt, and the pain; a part of her suffers with him, she chides herself for feeling that. She should hate him, she needs to hate him. His eyes the same shade as… Michonne doesn't allow herself to think of it. She closes her eyes to the onslaught of emotions, when she opens them he's still staring at her.

"You," Sher whispers.

"You," He replies.

"It's clear," Carl calls from inside as he approaches the back door.

Rick motions for her to follow with nonverbal cues. Michonne gives herself a wide berth as she passes him. She enters the house after Carl with Rick falling in step behind her, the house is immaculate and brightly lit. A wave of jealous boils within her as she looks around the kitchen. She use to dream of a house like this when she was on the road. When she was, alone and had nothing to keep her moving she would closer her eyes and fantasize about a place like this with An- she shuts down her thoughts and tries to focus on her anger that seems to fade the longer she's in his presence.

"Sit," He says pointing to one of two chairs at the kitchen table.

Her eyes narrow but she sits on the edge of the chair with her hand palms down on the table. His son places her weapon on the kitchen island by the sink before he moves about the house closing and drawing the blinds shut while Michonne and Rick continues to watch each other, neither speaking. Michonne tries to put in order and understand the emotion running rampant through her. She feels as if she's having an outer body experience and tries to get a grip of herself. The pulse of energy intensifies when they move inside the house, trap and bouncing off them and against the walls.

From the corner of her eyes she sees Carl shift from leg to leg when he returns to the room. Michonne pulls away from Rick's eyes to looks at Carl who looks from one adult to the other trying to reconcile the pulse and tension of energy in the room.

"No one followed me," She confesses softly.

"What?" Carl asks.

"No one followed me. No, one knows Dwight left or that I followed after him. No one knows I'm here."

"How do you know?" Rick asks while Carl cock's his eyebrow at his father's question wanting to know the answer as well. Michonne doesn't look at Rick she focuses her attention on Carl.

"I made sure no one followed me out. I double back and took a longer way to make sure no one followed me here."

"No one followed you?" Rick repeats.

"No one."

"If Negan notices that you're gone, won't he come looking for you?" Carl asks.

"I've gone off before. If I'm gone too long he, may start looking," Michonne admits shifting her eyes from son to father. She sees Rick's face tighten briefly before he pushes away the fleeting emotion that Michonne can't name.

"How long is too long?" Rick asks.

"A week," She shrugs, "Sometimes longer."

They fall silent. Michonne eyes going from Rick to Carl's and then back to Rick, eyes so similar to An-… the thoughts stop. She suppresses the memories and thought, trying to bury them deep down within her. She tries to dig up the anger she should feel, that she felt when she first saw him but a wariness grips her tightly. A large part of her just wants to stop fighting the feelings and give into them.

"Carl said you helped him."

"I don't like bullies."

"Yet, you're with Negan," Rick retorts.

"That's only about survival. It's about surviving."

"And what about living?"

Michonne's eyes flash to a shade of black as dark memories crosses her vision. Normal people will look or back away when the dark anger flashes in her eyes but Rick takes the full brunt of her gaze even taking a step forward.

"Actually living and not just surviving," Rick adds.

"You need a reason to live and not all of us are granted that luxury," Michonne says pulling her eyes away from Rick's, looking to Carl and then back at him.

The silent returns. Carl paces from the front door to the kitchen. Rick stays with Michonne, neither speaking only watching each other unabashed and unashamed. The woman name Maggie returns to the house first, the woman Glenn called his wife. She looks out of breath and wide eyes as she steps in close to Rick.

"It is taken care of?" Rick asks.

Maggie nods as her eyes fits to Michonne before she returns them to Rick, she steps closer to him and whispers in his ears. She speaks too low and Michonne is too far to hear what she says. Rick only nods and looks her over, she's still breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" He says as his eyes drop to her mid-section. Michonne eyes follow his and widens as she takes in the woman extended belly slightly hidden behind her large shirt.

"You're pregnant!" Michonne gasps. Maggie's hands go to her belly in a protective stance, her eyes go wide as she looks from Michonne to Rick then back at Michonne. She doesn't answer but she doesn't need to, Michonne already knows and the shock of it stuns Michonne to silence. Her thoughts split in two as an irrational storm of jealousy erupts within her chest. Her first thought going to her son. Michonne closes her eyes as the jealousy melds into the anger she was trying to dig up; it explodes violently and she feels as if it will manifest itself into a tangible form and rip itself from her chest. She wants to bellow in rage at the cruelty and injustice of the world. Her second thought douse the envy with hope; hope of new life and how fitting the person who helped her in Woodbury will be bless with a child. The torrent of emotions waging within her causes her head to ache and a wariness to succumb her.

"You should go home."

"I want to wait for Glenn and the others," Maggie says.

Michonne opens her eyes and look between the two, Rick squeezes her shoulder and softens his voice as he speaks to her, "Go home and get some rest. It has been a long day. We're done here, nothing else is going to happen tonight."

"Ok," She concedes while holding her belly, "Send Glenn home to me as soon as he gets back."

"I will."

"Dad," Carl calls out for his father's attention, Rick turns to his son while Michonne take in both men, "I'm going to walk Maggie home, make sure she gets there okay and check on Enid."

"I want you back home in ten minutes."

Carl nods and follows Maggie.

XxXx00000xXxX

With Carl gone the electric current that seems to flow between Rick and Michonne intensifies without the buffer. He holsters his colt before he places her sword behind him on the kitchen island, he then turns and pulls out a chair and takes a seat across from her. Rick is in awe of her beauty from the rich hue of her skin, to the long slope of her neck, her tone arms, to her full lips and molten brown eyes. He fights the urgent need to bring solace to the pain that dwells within her beautiful brown eyes. He wants her in his arms to hold her tight until the pain fades from her pretty eyes. He memorizes the features of her face drinking her in as she does the same with dark piercing eyes.

"Your hair got longer."

She doesn't speak, only an eyebrow raises in question.

"You look the same as I remember. As I pictured you would but- but I always remember your hair short. Your hair got longer."

Her eyes soften a fraction even though her full lips remain in a tight grimace.

"You're still as beautiful as I remember even more so."

The electric current between them flares as surprise race across her face before she stamps it down with another fierce grimace.

"What do you want from me?" She asks her voice a soft whisper.

"You're the one who snuck into my community. You could have stayed with Negan and the Saviors yet you came back-"

"I was following after the Dwight!" She interrupts him.

Rick only shakes his head slightly, "You could have gone back and told Negan or got the Saviors to come after Dwight but you didn't. You came back and came alone, so tell me Michonne, what do you want from me?"

Her hands on the table balls into a fist as her face tightens with anger, annoyance, and a flash of something else that passes too quickly for him to decipher. His eyes trail from her eyes to her hands then back to her eyes while hers remain on his face. Michonne doesn't answer his question instead they sit in silence gazing at each other.

"Michonne. Michonne. Michonne." he repeats as her eyes travels over every inch of his face, "I've thought of hundreds maybe even thousands of possibilities of what your name may be but I've never thought of Michonne. It is different, exotic, unique, beautiful, and memorable just like the owner of the name. It fits you perfectly."

He sees the humor in her eyes even though her lips remain in a grimace; he yearns to see her stunning smile, to relieve some of the pain from her eyes. Her smile a drug he's unknowingly been craving for seven years.

"What names did you think of?"

"Too many to name."

"Give me a few examples."

Rick diverts his eyes for a moment before he returns them to her, he feels his face burn with a slight embarrassment, "Fatima, Victoria, Agnes, Fiona, Mercedes, Astrid, Diana, Daisy…" He trails off when he sees a wide smile cross her sweet lips. He feels his heart stop for a several seconds as he takes her in.

"Daisy? Agnes? You were really off the mark."

"That smile… I think I missed that smile the most," Rick confesses and when he does her smile falls quickly from her lips and she looks away from him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Michonne-"

"We are enemies!"

"We don't have to be."

"And what do you want Rick? Do you want us to pick up from where we left off seven years ago? Seven years? That's a long time ago even before the world ended. Now… now that is an entire lifetime, I can't go back. Too much shit has happened from then until now and I can't go back."

"I am not saying we go back… we go forward."

"Forward? Forward where Rick?" Michonne asks, he can see the desperation and pain melding on her face into an agony of simmering anger.

"I once said we were meant for more than that moment all those years ago, and seven years later we find each other again. We are meant for more."

"How can you still believe that? How Rick?"

"How can you not? Seven years, the world we know ends and somehow we still find each other alive and well?"

"Who said I'm well?"

"Tell me how I can make it better?"

"You can't."

"I don't believe that," He replies gently.

The hurt in her eyes and words are tangible. He yearns to hold her and help relieve the pain. Michonne falls silent as she glares at him, her brown eyes harden into gems of black ice. It does nothing to take away from her beauty.

"I'm sorry," Rick says. She doesn't reply so he continues. "I am sorry for the name. It is one of my regrets."

"What? Guessing the wrong name?"

"Never demanding your name."

"You did."

"No. I asked and you said no. I should have demanded you tell me your name."

"What would it have changed?" Michonne asks sadly.

"Everything," Rick breathes, "It would have changed everything."

XxXx00000xXxX

Effortless. It is the only word Michonne can think of to describe being in Rick's presence and talking to him. It is effortless and that thought causes her discomfort and agitates her. It shouldn't be this easy. It scares Michonne to her core at how natural this feels. As if they are picking up exactly where they left off all those years ago. She thinks about the lost seven years that has passed between them that they will never retrieve. She can't go back.

Forward. Rick had said 'forward', could she possibly move forward with him?

Michonne's chest hurts. The heart she once thought she lost, the heart she once thought desiccated and died violently beats against her chest cavity. She is certain her racing heart is going to tear itself from her chest. She avoids looking up at him as he shifts in his seat, she knows he's going to speak and Michonne can't take another onslaught of flowery talk of empty hope from Rick.

"Michonne," He softly whispers. She wants to deny that she likes how effortlessly her name flow from his lips and how seductive his accent makes her name sound.

The front door opens and they both look towards the direction of the door. Rick moves to his feet as several voices travel into the kitchen before the owner of the voices. Carl returns along with the man name Abraham and Daryl who held the weapon to her head. Several others come along with them Andrea being one of the group with a sneer resting upon her lips as she glares at Michonne.

"I saw Glenn on my way back and told him Maggie needed him. He'll check in tomorrow morning," Carl offers.

"We're going to keep patrol all night but so far it's clear."

"Same for the parameter, no sign of anyone," a black man with a staff says walking in behind Andrea.

"Sasha and I ain't find nothing wrong but we'll keep checking. Spencer and Carol ain't find nothing either. People are already in bed or getting ready for bed."

Rick nods before he glances at Michonne as says, "Michonne said she followed Dwight alone. No, one is coming after her or Dwight."

"How can we be sure? She could be lying!" Andrea states.

"She's not," Rick replies.

"How do you know?" Andrea questions

"Andrea is right, she could be lying." the black man offers.

Rick looks at the man before he quickly glances at Michonne then at Andrea, "She's not."

"What are we going to do about her?" Abraham asks.

"Give me Dwight and we'll leave. I will not tell Negan about whatever you have planned against him. You'll have your chance to get from under his rule and I promise I will not do anything to compromise your plans."

"You do all of that? Why?" The man named, Daryl asks.

"As a thank you to Glenn for helping me. As a small gift to his wife and unborn child. I owe him that."

"We can't allow her to just leave!" Andrea sneers.

"And all you want is Dwight?" Sasha asks.

Michonne turns to her and gives her a curt nod.

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Do not worry about that," She simply answers.

"She's going to kill him! This is what she does. She kills innocent people," Andrea comments.

Michonne scoffs, "Dwight is far from innocent."

"He helped us. He has been instrumental in our plans!" Andrea retorts.

Michonne coolly turns to her, "I am allowing you all to have your plans, I just want Dwight and we'll leave."

"How can we trust you?"

Even though Rick didn't pose the question Michonne locks eyes and speaks directly to him, "It is a chance you'll have to take."

The two stare into each other's eyes again, getting lost in memories as the group looks on. It isn't until Abraham speaks up from that the slow build of tension releases slightly.

"You're shitting me! You're thinking about her offer?"

Rick's eyes break away from Michonne, he looks around the room before he speaks, "Tonight we keep vigilant just in case but we're done discussing anythan' until tomorrow morning."

"So once again your plan is to do nothing?" Andrea states as she locks eyes with Rick.

Michonne notes the tick in his jaw but when he speaks it is in low calm voice, "It's been a long day. We'll finish this tomorrow."

Andrea cuts her eyes away from Rick's cold stare, she looks at Michonne and toss her a daggered stare before she turns and whips out the room. The others concur with Rick and slowly the kitchen empties out until it is only a few of them remaining.

"I'll take her to the cell and take first watch," says the man with the staff.

"I'll take second watch," Sasha volunteers.

"I'll walk with y'all," Daryl offers.

"Dad! We're putting her in the jail cell? That's not fair! I was treated better when I with the Saviors!" Carl protests.

Michonne looks at the young man surprise at his defense of her comfort.

"You were taken, she broke in. There's a difference," Daryl says.

"The cell is not bad. It has a nice bed. It is just a safety precaution."

"Morgan is right, the cell is not bad and it is for her safety as much as ours," Rick says looking up at Michonne. She gives him a subtle nod before she looks away.

"Dad!"

"It'll be fine Carl," Michonne says.

"We should give her something to eat or drink or something," Carl says.

"We'll make sure she's fine, Carl." Sasha offers.

She gives Carl a small smile at his concern, remembering the lesson she taught him. Morgan, the man with the staff, directs her to stand and Michonne does so. She follows Morgan as the man with the crossbow, Daryl falls into step behind her with Sasha alongside of him. In truth Michonne is not looking forward to sleeping in a cell but she is relieved to be leaving Rick's presence and the pulse of energy that permeates the air around them and the once buried emotions he unearths. She needs some time alone to get her thoughts and emotions together concerning her next move and Rick Grimes.

XxXx00000xXxX

Rick is distracted. He can't focus on the meeting being held in the middle of his living room. His only focus is on Michonne who's several blocks away in the jail cell. He wants to go to her. He wants to continue their discussion from last night. He wants to just sit and talk to her. He wants to make her laugh and watch that wonderful smile cross her lips because of him.

After Morgan took Michonne to the cell Rick checked with the others to make sure Alexandria was safe before returning home. When he did he tried to sleep but Michonne sat heavily upon every available thought in his mind. He kept replaying their night together seven years ago, and the words Dre said. That he saw his mother and the sudden coincidence of Michonne's appearance.

During the night, Rick paced his house in the dark thinking of more plans to defeat Negan and help his community thrive. He considered her offer of taking Dwight and leaving, promising not to tell Negan about their plans. The others doubted that they could trust her but he knew within his guts she would keep her word. He even stood above his children's bed and watched them sleep. He took in how young Carl really was when he was fast asleep. He took in Judith's feature that mirrored Lori so much. He took in Dre's features and reconciled the similarities to Michonne. The little sleep he did find Michonne found her way into his dream; it was a pleasant dream of what could be, a slumber Rick hope would be come a reality.

"Rick!"

He snaps out of his thoughts and focuses on Jesus, one of their ally from the neighboring community, Hilltop.

"Yea?"

"Maggie said Michonne didn't see us, do you think she might know about our alliances?" Jesus asks.

"I don't think so."

"She didn't mention it."

"Why would she mention it?" Holly asks.

"She mentioned how she got in last night, that she wasn't followed and that she knew Dwight was here. I think if she knew about our alliance with Hilltop and the Kingdom she would have said something," Sasha says.

"You're giving too much credit to this woman you don't know," Holly retorts.

Daryl scoffs, "She wasn't lying about the trees at the east wall."

"I don't think she knows. Sasha's right she would have said something," Dwight says.

"Good! We don't need the Saviors to know about the alliance between us," Richard from the Kingdom says. Ezekiel couldn't come to the meeting called by Rick so he sent one of his trusted men in his place.

"We're not discussing the most important matter," Spencer says looking around the room to the various individuals, "What are we going to do with Michonne? She's a liability to all of our planning and hard work."

Richard nods, "I agree, if we handle this Michonne thing wrong it will have a ripple effect to all three communities."

"I vote to kill her," Darla voices.

"We're not killing her," Rick states keeping his voice even.

Rosita speaks up from a corner and asks, "What other options do we have?"

"We're not killing her," Rick repeats.

"She was sneaking around my house. Watching my daughter from the window like a creep for that alone the woman can die. Who votes to kill the woman?" Darla asks. Rick notes the hands that raises.

"We. Are. Not. Killing. Her." Rick says punctuating each word with a finality that hints at the beginning anger.

"Rosita is right, what other options do we have?" Tara questions lowering her raised hand.

"We can't just let her go. If you go and tells Negan… the fallout will be greater than one woman," Carol offers.

Rick starts to seethe in anger as he listens to how quickly they want to kill Michonne but he quickly tampers his emotions and tries to think rationally as a leader. It is difficult but he thinks of Michonne as just another member of the Saviors and not the woman from seven years ago. Rationalizing his thoughts, he knows killing Michonne will make things worse before it gets better.

"She wants to leave. She said she will not tell Negan of our plans," Sasha offers.

"Do you believe her?"

Sasha shrugs at Rosita's question, "A part of me does but- but I'm unsure."

"Why would she just leave and not tell Negan?"

"What does she want?"

Several looks are exchange before Andrea speaks up, "Dwight. She wants Dwight."

"Fuck! She's going to kill me."

Daryl shrugs, "If that's the tradeoff…"

"Fuck you!"

Sasha speaks up before Daryl has a chance to respond to Dwight, "She says it is thank you to Glenn for helping her out at Woodbury."

"So, she's indebted to you? We can use this to our advantage," Jesus offers looking at Glenn.

"I say we let her go. Give her Dwight and let her go. We can make her promise not to kill him," Glenn states.

"What is there to keep her from killing me and telling Negan of the plans?" Dwight asks.

"She'll give us her word-"

"Like Carol said, if she tells Negan… the fallout will be great. It will be more than just me losing my life," Dwight comments.

"She won't tell," Carl speaks up.

"And how do you know that for sure?"

"I don't! But I don't think she's the type to go back on her word," Carl comments.

"We can't let her go, there is too many factors to consider. This is not just about Alexandria anymore. We have to think about all three communities," Richard says.

"We can just keep her locked up," Morgan suggests.

Abraham scoffs at the idea, "For how long?"

Holly rolls her eyes at the thought and adds, "Last time them bastard came they did a random sweep, what if they come in and do one and find her?"

"Things will get significantly worse than better," Eugene answers.

Andrea gives her opinion, "There are no options. She needs to die."

Maggie looks as surprise as Rick feels at Andrea's decision to kill Michonne. She shakes her head and says, "She was one of your closet friends."

"She burned down Woodbury while people slept. She's not a friend, she's a monster and needs to die," Andrea replies her voice heated with anger.

"She was a prisoner at Woodbury!" Carl exclaims.

"That doesn't excuse her actions!"

"We are not going to kill her!" Carl states.

"This is not your decision."

"And it is not yours!" Carl retorts.

"Why is this child here? Shouldn't you be with the other kids?" Spencer queries.

"I may be young but I've killed more people than your spineless ass has!"

"Carl, enough!" Rick says sternly.

Carl grits his teeth as his hands ball into white-knuckle fists. Conviction weighing on every word he declares, "We're not going to kill her dad!"

"We're not."

"This is a group decision you cannot decide what is best for the community alone, Rick."

"And what do you think killing Michonne will resolve, Heath?" Rick asks.

"Dwight what can you tell us about Michonne? What is she to Negan?" Maggie asks while Glenn moves to stand behind her.

Dwight sighs and shakes his head while moving to the edge of his seat. He looks around the room before he stares off to an empty space on the wall and starts to speak, "Look, Negan ain't got loyalty to no one but Negan. Negan's first priority is Negan."

Abraham grumbles while folding his arms across his chest, "We get it Negan is an asshole. We already know this."

"He is an asshole and the only decency I have ever seen him shown is to her- to Michonne. Michon-"

Carl interrupts, "She doesn't kneel to him like the others. She also stands up to him and speaks her mind if she doesn't like what he's doing. That must mean something!"

"Sounds like she as some pull with the Savior," Glenn notes.

Dwight shakes his head, "People there either love or hate her. She has lieutenant's points and privilege like one on his wives but she ain't neither. She can do great good but she doesn't; Negan doesn't give a fuck about anyone's opinions but he'll listens to her. She has his ears."

"More like his dick," Holly quips.

"So, Negan's weakness is Michonne? We can use this to our advantage!" Morgan comments excitedly.

Dwight only shrugs, "Perhaps."

"I think Michon-" Carl cuts his sentence short and stands to his feet, "Dre?"

Rick eyes goes to his son who stands quietly by the door unnoticed, Rick also moves to his feet and walks towards him as Carl does the same.

"Dre what are you doing here?" Rick asks kneeling down to be eye level with his son.

"I wanted Wolverine. I left him here."

"I'll go get it," Carl offers before he bounds up the stairs to retrieve his brother's toy.

Rick looks at the boy with a renew vision, noting the shape of his eyes, the slopes of his cheeks and shape of his face. He stands and walk his son to the front porch where he waits with him for Carl.

"Did you walk here all by yourself?"

Dre smiles wide and nods, Rick gives him a tight smile and gently reprimands him, "It is not safe to be out by yourself. You need to have an adult with you at all time."

"But Daddy I am a big boy and smart."

"I know you are but do not go outside without an adult, understand?"

Dre drops his head and nods, "Sorry, daddy."

"Hey, look at me."

He lifts his head and looks at Rick.

"I love you, Little Bear and I need you to be safe. Okay?"

"Okay Daddy."

Rick kisses Dre as Carl walks out onto the front porch.

"I'll take him back," Carl offers handing Dre his toy and grabbing his hand.

Rick nods he watches the two walk down the steps before he returns to the conversation at hand where he finds Richard talking.

"Each time they come to the Kingdom she's at Negan's side, fucking glaring at everyone not saying a damn word but she's there like a guard dog. She has some power."

"You said you had some Saviors who would fight against Negan, is Michonne one of them?" Jesus asks.

Dwight shrugs, he drops his head and looks at his hand before looking up at Jesus, "Michonne was there before Sherry and I arrived. The best way I can describe her is indifferent. She doesn't care one way or the other to many things Negan does. I heard when Negan Lucille that kid up at Hilltop they fought for days. When he ironed this boy Timmy at the Sanctuary for stealing she flipped out. I don't know what Negan said or did to make up for it but he never ironed a kid again."

"Doesn't seem bad to me," Daryl scoffs. Rick knows Daryl feels about protecting kids and Rick himself admits the story doesn't paint Michonne in a bad light.

"Yea but I also saw her not bat a fucking eye when he ironed me or went hunting!" Dwight says angrily.

"Hunting?"

"Negan banished this man Vern, who was trying to rebel against him, His torture of the man didn't stop from exiling him from the Sanctuary. Negan took a few others and went hunting, hunted the man for three days until they finally killed him. Then they dragged the body back and hung him on the fence for everyone to see."

"Is that what's going to happen to you if Negan finds out you've been helping us?" Rosita asks.

"Or worse," Dwight says with a deep sigh.

"So, she ain't do shit for this hunting party?" Abraham gruff out.

"Nothing," Dwight says shaking his head, "Negan used Lucille once scrap the skin off this woman's face and Michonne ain't do a damn thing."

"What kind of woman allows torture like this to happen to others?" Darla asks.

"I am not going to blame or vote to kill her for not standing up for a man who tried to usurp Negan!" Sasha replies.

"She helped Carl. She saved him!" Glenn offers.

"Maybe because he was a kid or maybe because Negan order to keep the kid alive… fuck if I know. Bottom line, Michonne can't be trusted," Dwight states.

XxXx00000xXxX

"You can't walk outside by yourself Dre it is not safe."

"But Carl I was only over there," Dre points to Ms. Brooks house which is only two houses away from their own home.

"I know but it is not safe. Remember you must always stay safe. You have to stay inside and when you go outside you have to be with an adult."

"Are you an adult, Carl?"

He glances down to looks at his young brother who stares up at him with wide powered blue eyes.

"Close enough."

"So, no?"

Carl stifles a chuckle but doesn't reply.

"Carl?" Dre starts off.

"Yea buddy?"

"Did you always stay in the house when you were small like me?" Dre asks.

Carl doesn't look down at Dre as they approach Ms. Brooks house, he knows the lie will be clear on his face. He recalls all the time he ran off without his parents or an adult's knowledge. Not wanting to be a bad example to Dre, he nods his head.

"Yes, all the time. I always listened to Dad and my mom when they told me to stay put."

From the corner of his eye he catches Dre's disbelieving look but the young boy doesn't reply he only nods as they climb the steps to Ms. Brooks' home. He knocks on the door and wait for a reply. Ms. Brooks, the resident Alexandria school teacher, opens the door surprise to see Carl and Dre.

Carl enters the house and explains Dre's appearance. Ms. Brooks reprimands the young boy before she directs him to the garage with the other kids. Father Gabriel is already in the garage helping Ms. Brooks. Carl follows them but doesn't go into the garage, instead he stops in the entryway of the kitchen where Enid helps prepare lunch for the kids. He awkwardly stands at the entryway and watches Enid move around getting sandwiches ready. When she notices him, she stops and stares at him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Checking up on me?" She asks warily.

"Dre ran off again, I was just dropping him off."

"Okay."

"Okay."

They're quiet for a minute as Carl moves deeper into the kitchen.

"I did come to check up on you."

"I'm fine… I…"

"I know… I just…" He doesn't finish. He shifts from one leg to the other while he studies the space on the floor between them, "I better go."

"Okay."

Carl doesn't move, he remains standing in place finally he looks up and catches her eyes, "Enid?"

"Yea?"

"May I hug you?"

She looks at the space above his head before slowly finding his eye. She gives a small nod. Carl closes the space between them and gingerly wraps his arm around her. When she relaxes, her press her closer to him and hugs her tighter. Enid releases a soft sob as she returns his hug.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Michonne always seem reasonable to me. Maybe we can reason with her?" Jesus suggests.

Maggie nods her head, "Give her a reason to join our cause maybe we can show her the community? We can talk to her about the things we planned and hope to accomplish. Maybe she'll want to be part of the greater good. It could work."

"Nah… it won't."

"Why not?"

"She's loyal above everything else. Unless you can change her loyalty that plan of reasoning with her will not work."

"How loyal is she? She wants to take you and not tell Negan about our plans her? I do not trust the bitch," Holly says.

"Remember that kid from the farm? We can drive her out somewhere and drop her off," Glenn offers.

"That plan didn't work the first time you all tried it," Andrea snips.

"Michonne is smart unless you plan to drop her off in California, she'll make her way back to the Sanctuary in a week or less."

"If she's important to Negan we can use her as a bargaining chip," Tara proposes.

Rick watches as everyone grows excited at the idea. Several people start talking at once about how to make Tara's idea work.

He raises his voice and speaks over the others shutting down the idea, knowing what he'll do if he was in Negan's position, "Once Negan has Michonne back and she safe, he will not hesitate to destroy us."

"So, we're back to killing her?" Abraham asks.

"That is the only option we have," Holly comments.

"It is the only option that makes sense!" Darla exclaims.

Glenn erupts in anger and kicks the chair he was sitting in, "WE ARE NOT GOING TO KILL HER!"

"Glenn," Maggie says softly.

"Our options are slim, Glenn," Tara whispers.

Andrea rolls her eyes and snarls, "She can't be trusted. She killed innocent people and she is just as capable of selling us out to Negan."

"You all weren't there at Woodbury! You all didn't see what I saw or what I heard. That shit is burned into my memory and I-" Glenn inhales deeply and exhale slowly, trying to control himself, "If that was Maggie, Beth, Carol or… I would have helped set that fucking town ablaze! We are not going to kill her. We need to find another way."

The room is stun silent for a moment while everyone watches as Glenn leave.

"When we kill her how should will go about doing it?" Darla asks Dwight after a full moment of silence.

He shrugs and says, "Negan will need proof she's dead. Her body and her sword."

Sasha stands and moves towards the entryway of the living near Rick and Daryl, "Killing her is a stupid idea! If Negan likes her as much as you claim he does, if he so much as thinks she's been murder he will seek revenge and we're back to square one!"

"We can make it look like she got bit by a walker," Heath suggests.

"I've seen her take down upwards of fifteen walkers by herself, unless it is a herd Negan will not believe that either," Jesus shuts him down.

"We can keep her locked up."

Andrea sighs heavily and rolls her eyes, "Daryl we already discussed why that won't work."

"Not here… we find a place several miles away have rotating people keep a watch over her. We take care of Negan and then let her go."

Several people nod at the idea, Rick doesn't like the thought of Michonne faraway but it is the best they have come up with.

"What if she revenge Negan or try to take up arms against us?"

"She won't." When all eyes go to Rick, he knows he said it out loud instead of internally, he stands straight and looks around the room. "She will not seek revenge for Negan or round up the Saviors to fight us. Mich-"

"How do you know? How are you so sure?" Andrea asks her eyes narrow with anger at Rick. Eyes goes between the two ex-lovers until they settle of Rick who looks unfazed from Andrea's anger.

"She wouldn't have told us about the weak spot in our wall, so the Saviors could use it later. She wouldn't have told us she wasn't followed which would have kept us stretched out thin trying to cover the area. She said she doubled back and then followed Dwight, she could have gone back and told Negan and the Saviors but she didn't. I am not telling you all to call her a friend but I do not believe she wants to hurt us."

"I still don't trust her," Carol comments.

"I am not asking you to trust her. I'm asking you to trust me."

Several people nod and murmurs their agreement with Rick.

Andrea stand to her feet, rolls her shoulders back and with narrow blue eyes she faces off with Rick, "I think we should attack Negan now. He'll be distracted looking for his whore, this is the best time."

Rick bristle at the sound of Andrea calling Michonne a whore, he inhales deeply to calm himself as others agree with Andrea's plan to attack now.

Daryl nods and looks at him, "I know you wanted to wait a little longer but this may be the opportunity we were waiting for."

"It's a good idea, Negan will be distracted and trying to find Michonne and we can put our plan to action," Jesus agrees.

"Michonne being here… it can work out to all of our benefits."

XxXx00000xXxX

Carl's hug with Enid ends when Ms. Brooks calls her to help with Alice.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Enid turns and goes into the garage. Carl watches her go before he stands at the table trying to control his churning rage. He wants to kill the man who brought this pain to Enid. His thoughts go to Michonne. He truly hopes she made the man suffers. He thinks about going back to his house and returning to the meeting when another thought crosses his mind. He grabs two sandwich, a small baggie of slightly stale pretzels, and a bottle of water before he leaves out the backdoor of Ms. Brooks' house not realizing he's being watch.

When Carl arrives at the building that houses the jail cell, he enters the building quietly and makes his way towards the cell. He finds JJ, a young man a few years older than him, standing guard.

"Hey JJ my dad wants you to check out the east wall and make sure the tree cutting is going smoothly."

"Tobin said that Rosita was supposed to be my relief."

"She is. I'm just covering until she gets here. She's on her way, she had to stop by her house to take care of some lady stuff… you know… it's that time of month," Carl lies smoothly.

JJ's face pales as he nods in understanding, "So just go to the east wall?"

"Yea they need help there."

The young man nods handing Carl the keys before he leaves. Carl waits a full minute making sure JJ is gone before he turns and unlocks the cell. He steps into the room and finds Michonne sitting on the floor under the only window. Her hands are clasps in front of her in chains, Carl thinks it is excessive. He knows his father wants to protect them but chains on her wrist are too much. He swallows his anger, making a mental note to talk to his dad about their treatment of Michonne.

She looks up, her dark eyes watching his every move.

"He chained you up?" Carl asks incredulously.

"Not at first but one of the woman was talking too much so I hit her, her boyfriend with the terrible facial hair thought it'll be best."

"Holly and Abraham?"

She shrugs slightly, "I guess that's their names."

"Abraham, he can be too much but he's not a bad guy but Holly. I don't like her much."

"Me neither that's why I punched her."

Carl smiles. He looks around the solemn room taking in the empty tray and the rumple bed sheets before his eyes returns to hers.

"Did you sleep?"

"Some."

"I brought you food," Carl says holding up the food in his hands.

"Thank you."

"Remember rest and eat."

A ghost of a smile crosses her lips.

"You want me stronger?"

"Why not?" Carl asks.

"Because it is your family… your people I'll be going up against."

He takes a moment and takes in her pretty face and dark brown eyes remembering the lesson she taught him and her kindness before he replies, "I know but it should be a fair fight."

Michonne actually smiles. A wide bright smile that causes her eyes to dance in the dim light room. It lightens and makes her already pretty face stunning.

XxXx00000xXxX

Michonne watches Carl nervously shift from foot to foot. Her smiles slowly fade as she takes in the boy.

"What is it?" She asks gently.

"That man from yesterday… did you kill him?"

She loses her smile as the thoughts of Fred returns to the forefront of her mind.

"He hurt your friend?"

"He tried to… if Rosita…" Carl trails off and looks at the window above her.

"I haven't killed him but I will."

His eye return to her and with a steady gaze he says, "Good."

A twinge of sadness flutters in her chest at the thought of what she's going to do. She shouldn't feel guilty but it still shrouds her in a sticky blanket of annoyance. She was going to use the other young man, JJ but Carl will make a better hostage for her escape plan. She just needs him to get closer. The chains around her wrist are already unlock, she picked them earlier and only holds them around her wrist for show.

"I better get back."

"Carl," She calls out to him. The boy stops and turns to face her, "My food?"

"Oh yea!" He chuckles and gives her sheepish grin. He moves deeper into the cell, closing the distance between as he places the food down beside her.

Two things happen almost at the same times as he moves to stand, Michonne twist her wrist causing the shackles to clank to the floor. She leaps to her feet and starts towards Carl as the cell door opens and a voice calls out:

"Mama?"

* * *

 **A/N: PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! Please! I am so sorry about the cliffhanger. I truly am. I know! I know! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! It is just the way I wrote this section all those months ago. I know a lot of you all hate cliffhangers and to be honest I do too but it is what it is. I kind of make it up to you in the next chapter with Richonne smut! Yay, for smut right? Also, you will not have to wait too long for an update. My life has calm down some and my laptop is fixed.**

 **As always, thank you for taking the time and reading my little story. Thank you for following, favoring, commenting and all of that good jazz. I truly appreciate you all. Please let me know what you think. Until next time folks. - fithola**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I have to LOL, Reader: Tashamack2211768 called out that the smut was going to be a flashback and she was right. But flashback smut it still smut, right? Anyways, here's is the next chapter. As always thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy the reunion.**

* * *

 **Reunion L4yers**

 _Seven Years Ago – At the Beginning_

 _He pushed the door open and stepped inside before turning to face her. Her eyes are set behind him, considering the dark room trying to come to her own decision. Michonne knew if she stepped into the room with him everything would change. She didn't know how but in her gut, there was an instinctual feeling of change, it frightened and excited her. His blue eyes dance wildly in the dim light of the hallway as he stared in her eyes._

 _"_ _Her," Michonne said._

 _"_ _You," He replied._

 _"_ _Him."_

 _"_ _Me."_

 _Michonne smiled, she liked his confidence. Her eyes shifted to stare into his, "You have a reply for everything."_

 _He smiled, he reached out his hand to her. She glanced at the darkness behind him then to his hand and finally resting upon his eyes. Eyes so full of light and possibilities, Michonne dove into the possibility, she dove into the fright and excitement, she slowly took the outstretched hand and he pulled her into the room whispering, "Us."_

 _His lips covered hers as he closed the door behind her._

 _His kiss breathed life into her lungs. She inhaled him, inhaled his scent and let it caress her from the inside out. His kiss ignited a fire deep within her belly. Michonne moaned against his lips and opened her mouth accepting the offering of his tongue. He stroked the fire, fanning the flame that started to move from her belly south to the apex of her thighs. A need for him began to churn as he pulled her closer against his body. The simmering flame weighed heavily between her thighs as she felt his desire for her pressing against her stomach._

 _He broke away from the kiss, Michonne raised her head and stared into his heady blue eyes. The lust and need for clearly evident in his baby blues. He licked his lips and released her from his arms gently leading her deeper into the room. Once Michonne stood near the king size bed, he circled around her as if a predator stalking its prey. A shiver raced down her shine settling along with the pool of lust at the juncture of her thighs._

 _He stopped in front of her and licked his lips again as his eyes caressed her body like a physical touch._

 _"_ _Strip."_

 _"_ _What makes you think you can have me so easily?" Michonne purred._

 _"_ _Because I had you the first moment your eyes met mine."_

 _Michonne locked onto those cerulean blue spheres, its flickering shades going from a dark blue to a lighter one then back to dark. His pupil dilated as he gazed at her with desire and need so pure and intense it caused her to shudder as she stood in front of him and moan._

 _"_ _Strip," He repeated._

 _This time Michonne quickly obeyed wanting him to stroke the fire he had blazing at her center. She hurriedly moved her hands to tug at the gold zipper of her dress._

 _"_ _Slowly."_

 _Another moan tore across her lips as she suppressed another shudder at his ability to bring her pleasure without touching her. The power he held over her scared and excited her. Michonne slowly tugged on the gold zipper of her cream dress, eyes locked on his she pulled the zipper down allowing her dark flesh to be revealed to him. Cerulean spheres pulled away from her eyes as they drank up her exposed skin._

 _When the zipper reached the end of its tracks Michonne leisurely traced the path of the zipper from her hips back up over her flat stomach, her narrow waist and finally to her chest enticing his eyes to follow the course of her long slender fingers. He briefly glanced up into her eyes before his eyes settled on her hands as she pushed the dress fabric off her shoulders and down her arms allowing the material to reveal more of her enticing flesh and ivory lace bra._

 _Michonne smiled as she watched the waves of lust contort his face. She noticed his parted lips, his heavy breathing, the rise and fall of his chest as well as the impressive bulged straining against his black slacks. Her nipples harden to a painful degree, she pressed her thighs together trying to relieve the ache at her apex, her underwear sticking to her skin pressing her desire against the continuously growing sensitive skin._

 _Wiggling her hips, she pulled the dress over her shapely thighs, she released the material and allowed it to pool at her feet. His eyes followed the material before crawling up her semi-nude body up over her matching ivory lace thong until he reached her eyes, he gave a small nod for her to continue. Michonne obeyed wordlessly. Reaching behind her back she unclasped her bra and pulled the offending material away revealing her dark chocolate mounds to his blue spheres causing his breathe to hitch in his throat. Michonne smiled happy to know he wasn't the only one who held power. She dropped the bra besides her feet as she watched him rock on his feet as if he wanted to pounce on her, he clenched his fist but remained in control. A flutter of disappoint mixed with glee at his control settled alongside the wet flames at her center._

 _Her fingers dipped into the band of her thong when he spoke up again._

 _"_ _Turn around," desire causing his words to come out a strangle growl._

 _Without words, she turned facing away from him. She didn't need further instructions as she bent over while pulling her thong away from her douse heat. She gave him a perfect view of her desires as she removed the last fabric of clothing. When she stood erect again, she glanced over her shoulder to find him standing closer to her, the heat of his closeness and the coolness of the hotel room caused goosebumps to erupt upon her skin. As before he circled her like a lion stalking a gazelle, she felt the caress of his eyes on her skin another moan seeped out from her lips at his nearness. Her center throbbed with a blazing need as he stopped in front of her._

 _His eyes locked onto hers as he said: "You are exquisite."_

 _Michonne gazed up into his eyes before dropping to his lips and watching them descend upon hers. Her mouth opened to greedily accept his tongue as she pressed herself into his body. Grinding her body against his, Michonne moaned into his mouth as his tongue suppressed hers before he quickly moved away from her._

 _"_ _On the bed!"_

 _Michonne moved to the bed and drop to her knees with her ass up in the air, she glanced over her shoulder and watched his eyes darken with unadulterated lust as she crawled up to the center of the bed. She remained on her knees until he commanded her to get on her back. She slowly flipped over and stared into his eyes awaiting his next command, her body taunt ready for release._

 _"_ _Open your legs."_

 _Michonne obeyed._

 _"_ _Wider."_

 _Her thighs shamelessly fell apart revealing the truth of her desire._

 _"_ _Touch yourself."_

 _Her fingers found her pearl and gently caressed at her engorge nerves. Her thighs fell further apart. Even from the distance she could see his pupil dilated with lust as he watched her play with herself. He started to undress all the while watching Michonne touch herself._

 _First to go is his shoes, he made quick work of them followed by his blazer tossing it at the foot of the bed. His long deft fingers started at the collar of his button-down dress shirt, Michonne wanted to rip the shirt off his frame. When he reached the last button of the shirt he gave another command._

 _"_ _Ad… add a finger," He choked out._

 _Michonne groaned as she complied, allowing her middle finger to sink slowly into her now soaking center. Her hips lurched forward grinding against her finger as he tossed the shirt haphazardly upon the floor. He moved his hand to belt and started undoing his pants._

 _"_ _Yesssss," Michonne hissed pumping her finger faster into her creamy canal._

 _"_ _Don't come."_

 _Michonne groaned slowing the grind of her hips. He slowly undid the zipper of his pants then pulled them down his narrow hips; they dropped from his legs and pool at his ankle. He stepped out of the clothing still dress in a navy boxer-brief that strains to hold his hard length, she's offended at the sight of the material. A sneer pulled her lip up at the sight of the undergarment._

 _"_ _Add another finger."_

 _Her eyes rolled close as her ring finger slip in along her middle digit, her hips lurched upwards at the new addition. Her breathing labor, she's struggled not to come before he's inside her but the blazing fire spread across her entire body raging toward release. Michonne pulled her eyes open in time to see him remove his boxer-brief. His impressive length looked mouthwatering and threatening as it stood at attention, on instinct her hips lurched towards him._

 _"_ _Please! Please!" She begged as she watched him approach the bed her fingers pumping into her wet cove faster._

 _"_ _Do not come."_

 _"_ _Please baby! Please, I can't wait."_

 _"_ _Yes, you can."_

 _Michonne whimpered but felt hopeful when the bed dipped under her weight. She watched as he stroked himself slowly, his eyes dark with lust drinking in her body withering with wanton need. He knelled between her parted legs and pulled her hand away from her throbbing center bringing them up to his lips. Taking each finger into his mouth he sucked on her digits and licks away her essences all the while staring into her eyes. She was on the verge of falling over the edge where pleasure awaited her._

 _He lowered himself blanketing her body with his, her legs wrapped around his hips as her hips thrusted up against his, feeling the hard-veiny length of his manhood._

 _"_ _Baby please," Michonne whimpered out._

 _His lips found her and Michonne breathed him in the same moment he eased his manhood into her saturated cove._

 _Breaking away from the heady kiss Michonne yelled out, "Yesssss," as he slowly sunk completely into her filling her to the brim. The senation of him completely inside was overwhelmingly, she had never felt so full and complete in her entire life. He recaptured her lips and kissed her fiercely and hungrily not moving allowing her to get accustomed to his length. When Michonne started to grind her hips against his, he slowly and completely withdrew his steel before deeply plunging within her. She cried out beneath him withering in pleasure so close to her precipice of ecstasy. He repeated the movement and Michonne screamed out again._

 _Once again, he withdrew completely before diving deeply within and falling into a steady rhythm. The blaze threatening to swallow her whole at his precise and dawdling thrust; her body started to contract and constrict around him, her orgasm threatening to rip across her body._

 _"_ _Pleeaaassseee," She moaned, the need in her voice was tangent as her dark eyes locked on his. Blue eyes hooded with lust took her in, her breast bounce lewdly with each hard controlled thrust. He dove deeper into her, hitting her g-spot and Michonne's walls clenched against him as she dug her nails into his shoulders. He knew she couldn't hold out much longer as her left legs started to sporadically tremble around his hip._

 _"_ _Come for me."_

 _He commanded with a southern drawl and gravelly voice, his growl in her ears caused Michonne to explode beneath him. She gushed her release upon his steel manhood her back arched as she clawed at his shoulders and screamed out her release to the heavens._ _A blinding ecstasy shatter her entire being, she quaked beneath him violently as he continued to administrate slow measured stroked. As soon as Michonne descended from her high, the flame of pleasure reignited with the power of his thrusts; an orgasm already mounting and at the brink of erupting within her again._

 _"_ _Ready for more?" He asked as his thrust began to increase._

 _"_ _Yessss."_

XxXx00000xXxX

NOW – Present Day

"DAD!"

Rick hears Carl seconds before the front door violently swings open cutting off Jesus as he discusses Hilltop's responsibility in the new plan.

"DAD!"

Rick stands and rushes to meet Carl as he storms into the house with his face flush, breathing heavily, and wide eye.

"What?" Rick asks in alarm taking in Carl's appearance.

"Come! Come now!" Carl breathes out before he turns on his heels and rushes back out the front door. Rick follows him without another word. It is not until he's on the street sprinting after Carl that he realizes several others are following him.

"Jesus get Richard and Dwight and get out of sight. I don't know what's going on," Rick yells out, Jesus nods and peels away from the running group.

"Abraham. Rosita. Get the others in positions and to their stations. Get ready, just in case."

"Radio with a status update," Abraham says before he and Rosita change the direction of their sprint and follow Rick's direction.

"Daryl. Sasha. Stay with me."

Daryl lifts his crossbow as Sasha swings her rifle in front of her but keeping in stride with Carl and Rick. Carl slows his sprint when he reaches the building of the jail cell, he thunders down the stairs and into the building with Rick a half step behind him. Rick's heart thumps violently in his chest as his thoughts goes to Michonne. His only thoughts are, she may be hurt or possibly escaped.

Inside they burrow down the hall and turn into the room that holds the cell. Carl slows to a fast walk as he steps into the room and turns towards the cell, inside the room Rick sees the cell door wide open. Rick pulls out his colt and grabs Carl shoulder to signal him to stop but the boy shakes off his father's grasp as he turns the corner and enters the cell. Rick lifts his colt high as he steps in after Carl and freezes at the scene before him.

In the center of the room Michonne is on her knees with Dre wrap tightly in her embrace. Both are crying hysterically while Michonne repeatedly murmurs, 'Andre, my peanut, and other affectionate words' while Dre cries, "Mama."

Rick's hand with the firearm drops to his side as he watches the woman and child. A film turns on in his head repeatedly playing the memory of his and Michonne's night together, seven years earlier. The numbers and dates scrambles in his head as his heart feels as if it is beating outside of his chest. He feels the entire world has come to a stop and stand still watching the heart wrenching reunion before them. Michonne's eyes even though their full of tears, the joy and love within them is a tangible thing that fills every space within the jail cell.

Michonne kisses Dre's face repeatedly then she pulls away and examines his face before repeating the process and showering Dre with kisses. Her voice a mixture of a lightness and overwhelming emotions, "My Andre. My little peanut... my sweet sweet boy. My dearest love. My Andre!"

Rick doesn't realize he's crying until the vision of Michonne and Dre blurs, he wipes his tears away as he tries to reign in his own raging emotions.

A sniffle to his right catches his attention. He looks over to see his close friend turn and leave the cell as he wipes his face. His eyes move to Sasha who moves to follow the archer as her own tears freely flow down her face. Rick's gaze finally lands on Carl, who looks as if he's ready to crumble at the sight of Michonne and Dre, Rick knows in that moment Carl is thinking of his own mom. He moves to his son and squeezes his shoulder. Carl wipes at his face avoiding looking up at Rick.

"This changes things," He whispers.

"It changes everythan'," Rick says looking back at the still weeping Michonne.

XxXx00000xXxX

One Hour Later

"How did you not know she had a son? How did you not know, that was her son?"

"She never told me!" Andrea shots back, "She didn't talk about him… she barely talked about her past."

"You spent eight months with her!" Rick spats.

"She barely talked, Rick. I had no way of knowing."

"You should have known!" Rick says his voice rising.

"Rick, I'm sorry!"

"Did you tell her about him? Why didn't you tell her about Dre?"

"I barely knew Dre at the farm I interacted with the kid twice!"

"You talk so damn much you didn't describe him to her? Maybe she would have figured it out and –"

"Rick! Calm down!" Glenn hushes.

"How do we even know that's her son? She could be lying! Andre had seen his mother before! He almost got bit by a walker he thought was his mother," Andrea claims.

"Because you can't fake that!" Maggie declares pointing at the scene in the living room.

Rick glares at Andrea before following Maggie's hand to the scene of Michonne kissing the boy's face all the while Dre giggles at the affection his mother shows him. Sporadic tears fall from her face as she hugs the young boy, holding him tightly in her arms until he wiggles from her grasp; Michonne loosens her hold on the boy for only a few seconds before calling out to him and repeating the processes of kissing and hugging him tightly.

He looks over to his oldest son and watches as Carl hovers around Michonne and Dre watching anxiously with a mix of awe, sadness, and wariness. Daryl further away stands slightly behind Carl, flanking his side, ready to pounce if needed but also watching and studying closely the scene of mother and child.

Rick paces furiously, inner turmoil tearing him apart as flashes of the night he spent with Michonne plays across his vision and memory like a picture book. He turns from the scene, continue his agitated pacing for a moment before he pauses and turns to face Andrea abruptly. Andrea alternates from glaring to Rick and glaring at the reunion of mother and child.

"Think hard Andrea, Michonne never said anything? She didn't mention anything abou-"

"NO!" Andrea shouts cutting Rick off.

"Hey!" Sasha calls out. She splits her time trying to defuse the growing animosity between Rick and Andrea as well as keeping an eye on Daryl.

Rick snarls at Andrea before he turns toward Glenn and asks, "You were the first person in there, what did you see?"

Glenn shrugs tossing a glance at Michonne and Dre before turning his eyes onto Rick.

"I was on my way to see her… to see Michonne when I saw Dre walk into the house where Morgan built the jail cell. I called after him but he didn't hear me. I followed him and by the time I arrived Dre was in her arms crying. I thought she was hurting him until Carl told me what was happening and that's when I realized she was crying too. That she was kissing his face and as she whispers 'my peanut'. After I got over my shock, I told Carl to go get you."

"What do we do now?" Sasha asks.

"This changes our plan but-"

"This changes nothing, we keep the same plan as before! We take her somewhere and attack Negan while he's distracted!" Andrea states cutting Glenn off.

"I am not going to separate a mother and her child," Rick says.

"Especially after she found him after two years of thinking he was dead this entire time. We can't do that, it is heartless," Sasha comments.

"Then Dre can go off with her!"

"My son is not going anywhere!" Rick proclaims.

"He's not your son and now that his mother is-"

"My son is not going anywhere!" Rick repeats in a low serious tone turning to square off with Andrea, daring her to press harder for Dre to leave.

Andrea glares at Rick with annoyance and malice. She clenches her teeth and balls her hand into tight fists before she starts to take a step towards Rick but Maggie steps in between them which causes Glenn to do the same needing to protect his pregnant wife.

"Andrea…" Maggie starts.

"We table the discussion of the plan for today. Jesus, Dwight, and Richard go back to their respective community and wait to hear news from us. They have radios, we can communicate with them any updates we have. We'll give Michonne a day or two with her son and reevaluate things," Glenn says.

Rick can only nod at Glenn's rational and plan. He turns from Andrea and looks at Michonne, she's smiling and Dre falls into a giggle fit in her arms. Her smiles widen as her dark chocolate eyes lights up with hope and love.

"That's a good plan, Glenn."

"We're wasting precious time! What if Negan comes looking for her and she's hugged up on that boy?"

"That boy?" Rick repeats.

Andrea rolls her eyes and huffs, "You know what I meant."

A dark scowl falls upon his face as he turns to Andrea again, his anger soon to erupt from her callus behavior.

"Andrea, I understand what you're saying but Glenn has a good plan. We need a few days to reevaluate things," Maggie softly offers, lightly toughing Andrea's arm. Andrea's eyes move from Maggie to Rick then back to Maggie before she begrudgingly nods her head.

"Fine! Two days! Then we discuss a plan to handle Negan once and for all as well as Michonne," Andrea says. Maggie and Glenn both nod while Rick scowls at her.

"Andrea!" Rick calls out to her before she has a chance to storm out the house. She doesn't turn to face him but pause at the sound of her name, "This. Michonne and Dre this stays with us. With the people in this house only! No one else needs to know."

Andrea looks over her shoulder and scowls at Rick, a sneer curling up her lips. She throws another malice look at Michonne and Dre before she storms out the house.

Dre snaps away from his mother when he hears the door slam shut but Michonne calls his attention back to hers with more hugs and kisses.

"Two years… she found him after thinking he was dead for two years, a day or two ain't gonna be enough," Daryl says.

He has move closer to stand along among, Glenn, Maggie, Rick and Sasha. Once Andrea is gone, the group talks softly among each other.

"I know."

"We need to keep an eye on Andrea. She's volatile," Sasha observes, several nods follow her statement.

"I know why you want to keep this quiet but if I tell Carol she can keep an eye on Andrea. She can give us a head up if Andrea goes off rail," Maggie suggests.

Sasha agrees and adds, "She will go off rail… it is just a matter of when."

"Tell Carol but no one else," Rick orders.

"Dre being Michonne's son can help us."

Rick shakes his head at Glenn, "You were in that meeting earlier, you saw how many people voted for killing her. If people know that Michonne is Dre's mother, then they will try to use my son to get to her and I will not allow that. I will not allow my son to be put in harm's way."

"So, we're going to do Glenn's plan?" Sasha asks.

"It is the best option we have for the moment," Rick states.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Jealousy._ The light comes on in his head as the word finally matches one of the emotions stirring within him at the sight of Michonne and Dre. Carl is not upset about the reunion between the two, he doesn't even distrust Michonne. He knew as soon as he saw the two embrace each other that Dre was truly Michonne's son and that Dre was not confused about the woman being his mother.

In fact, he is amaze. He tries to reconcile the fearless monster and warrior he saw to this weeping affectionate woman hugging and kissing his little brother. His heart warms at the sight but jealousy tugs at him as well. The thoughts of his own mother and her death coming to the forefront of his mind as he watches the two before him. For all her faults, Lori, his mother did the best she could and he missed her. He missed having her loving arms wrap around him. He missed the embarrassing pouring of kisses on his face. He even missed her chastising him.

He's glad for the reunion of the two but a part of him wishes for the same affection of love being pour out onto his brother. Carl knows he should give them space but he can't. He stays near them just in case Dre needs him but also to feel the remnant of love being emitted by the warrior.

XxXx00000xXxX

It feels like a dream. A dream Michonne never wants to wake from. The feel of Andre warm and vibrating with life in her arms feels like a dream. She fears that she'll suddenly open her eyes and he'll disappear from her grasp. Michonne rains kisses in his hair as she inhales his familiar scent. Andre releases a fit of giggles as he squirms in her arms. His laugh is the same along with his cooper hue skin, dark curls, and sterling blue eyes. He even smells how she remembers yet he's different. He's taller, he lost some of his baby fat, and fullness to his cheeks, but the rightness of having him in her embrace is overwhelming.

This can't be a dream, it can't be. If it is, it will truly be the last string of her undoing.

"Mama! You're hugging like a bear!" Andre cries out happily.

"Sorry, Peanut," Michonne says loosening her grip on him slightly.

This moment, Andre alive and well in her arms, Michonne has dreamed, wished, and prayed for this moment since the she first saw Andre's red jacket covered in blood. A part of her held out hope that he was still alive but she buried that part because believing he was still alive was just as painfully as fully accepting his death but here he is laughing and holding her almost as tightly as she holds him.

Tears blur her vision but she quickly wipes them away not wanting to disrupt the view of her beautiful son. He is truly beautiful. All of the memories she has of him doesn't do justice to the beauty of her vibrant son and the sweet melody of his laugh. Michonne can hear the distance sound of voices rising in disagreement but nothing can take away her attention from reuniting with her son. She rains kisses on his cooper hue cheeks that is tinge slightly with the hint of embarrassment at her constant adoration.

Michonne's chest hurt. The violent drum of her heart against her chest hurts. With each passing moment with Andre in her arms she feels overwhelm by the sheer unadulterated love she has for him and a delirious joy. She feels as if she can't contain the love brimming inside of her and she doesn't want to. She wants her son to feel how much she loves him and how much she misses him. Michonne feels as if her heart will leap out of her chest and in a way it has. In a way, Andre is the visible representation of the heart she thought she once lost.

Her Andre Anthony alive and well. He was more than well, he is happy. Seeing him happy sows a debt of gratitude to the people who loved, cared, and protected her son. She stares at him and re-memorize the features of his face, the coloring of his skin, the shards of blue crystal colors of his eyes, his cute pouty mouth, his cheeks, his long eyelashes, his dark curls and everything else. She counts and recounts all his fingers and toes, he laughs hysterically when she counts his toes and pleads for her to stop and then to do it again. Michonne gladly fulfill his request. Once their game of counting and tickling his toes ends, Michonne kisses each finger before Andre grab hold of her face and stares into her eyes. He looks as if he's committing her to his memory as well and that thought causes Michonne to choke with a new onslaught of tears.

Her baby boy kisses her cheek stain tears and whispers, "Don't cry Mama, I'm here now."

His soft pleas causes her to cry even harder. He wraps his tiny arms around her neck and holds her tightly as she squeezes him to her. She presses him tightly against her chest, she wants to meld him into her so they can never be apart. The tight embrace ends when he complains that she's hugging like a bear again, her tears transform into a laugh as she relaxes her hold around him.

"You're my little bear."

Andre giggles and says, "Daddy calls me his little bear too."

Michonne smiles, her thought briefly drifting to Rick. She pushes the thought of the man out her head and focus her attention on her son. She knows she'll have to face him but this moment is reserve for her and Andre.

"Mama, miss you so much Peanut," Michonne softly states. She kisses his nose and then his forehead.

"I miss you too Mama," the little boy whispers moving his head to rest his forehead against his mother with his arms still wrap around her neck.

Michonne doesn't know how much time has passed and in truth she doesn't care. She can pass eternity with Andre in her embrace and it will be heaven to her. She does note several things as the sun begins to pass over the sky and the room darkens, first she notices the house has become unusually quiet. The yelling had stop a while ago but now the people who once filled the house were now gone. Second, Carl still lingers nearby, like he has since the discovery of her son. She glances up at him and notes his curious, sad, and wary expression. The last thing she notices is the constant wiggling coming from her son.

"Peanut, do you have to use the bathroom?" Michonne asks releasing Andre from her hold.

He has spent the better part of the day recounting stories of his time away from her.

"I'm okay Mama," Andre reply cuddling closer into her arms.

"Andre, you have to use the bathroom, you can go potty."

Andre twists in her arms and face her, "Are you going to be here when I come back?"

Tears spring from her eyes, her heart clenches at the worry in his voice and concern in his eyes. His fear of losing her as tangible as her own.

"I'm not going anywhere. Actually, I'll come with you."

Andre's copper cheek twinge pink with embarrassment as he moves from his mother's arms.

"Mama! I'm a big boy! I can go by myself."

A wide smile pulls at her lips, "I'll stand at the door."

He takes the moment and thinks before he nods, "Okay, but with the door close."

A giggle leaps from her lips, she agrees to his demands as the two move to their feet. From the corner of her eyes she spots Carl shift to his feet as well. Andre leads her to the bathroom on the main floor and Carl hovers behind her.

"Wait here Mama! I'll be right back!" Andre says, he steps into the bathroom and shuts the door soundly behind him. Once the door is close Michonne turns her attention onto Carl.

"I'm not going to hurt him."

"I know."

"Then why are you hovering?"

Carl looks at the door then back at Michonne, he shrugs and adverts his eye but Michonne can see the lost in his eye.

"You look different."

"Different?"

"Softer…uh… nicer…" Carl's chokes out as his face turns red, "It looks good on you."

"I feel like I'm dreaming. It doesn't feel real," She confesses.

"I can punch so you know it is not a dream."

She finds herself chuckling, "You mean pinch?"

He shrugs his shoulders again and smiles slyly, "Same difference, right?"

The toilet flushes and seconds later the door opens.

Michonne smiles warmly at the appearance of her son, while Carl speaks up behind her, "Did you wash your hands?"

Andre dramatically scoffs and rolls his eyes but returns inside the room. The faucet turns on and the two can hear the young boy wash his hands. After a few seconds the water turns off and the door opens wider.

"All done!" Andre says raising his hand for inspections.

Carl touches his slightly wet hands and nods his approval. Michonne holds out her own hands with her arms outstretch, Andre eagerly jumps into her arms and Michonne squeezes him against her chest as she carries him back into the living room with Carl shadowing their every move. Once in the living room, they settle on the floor in front of the couch while Carl takes up his perch on a nearby chair. Andre tries to leave her arms but Michonne pulls him back into her embrace, she stares into his blue eyes and starts raining down kisses on his faces. Andre hugs her as tightly as he can as another spring of tears rushes down her cheeks.

"Mama, don't cry," He whispers against her constant kisses.

"I can't help it sweetie. Mama is just happy."

"Happy tears?" He asks.

Nodding she nuzzles his cheek before she pulls him against her chest running her fingers through his curly hair.

"Happy tears, my love. Very happy tears."

XxXx00000xXxX

When night arrives Michonne can't sleep. Adrenaline sprinkle with fear pumps in her veins acting like a steady shot of caffeine; she fears if she closes her eyes it will all fade away like a dream. The dream of having Andre in her arms again, she fears that she will wake up and he'll be gone, so Michonne keeps diligent watch over her son.

He sleeps curled up in her lap and Michonne gently strokes his curls while crying and adorning him with kisses. She alternates between crying over and kissing her child, sometimes she does both. She still can't reconcile that she has found Andre after two years of thinking he was forever gone from this world. Now she finds him in the most unlikely place, in Alexandria in the home of Rick Grimes, his father.

Michonne looks around the dark living room, after a meager dinner that Andre happily ate alongside of her, Carl set up the living room for Michonne and Andre. Michonne's heart melted when Andre asked Carl to stay with them but Carl sadly decline stating he and his momma were going to have a special sleep over. It is only after Rick returns and Andre is asleep that Carl retires to his room.

She is surprise Rick keeps his distance, the only contact he has with her is when he directed her to his house from the jail cell. She had held Andre tightly in her arms and Rick led them to his living room where she remains for the rest of the day. He stayed away during the day and only reappeared after dinner was eaten; even now in the middle of the night with the entire house asleep besides the pair of them, Rick keeps his distance. Michonne is thankful, she cannot speak with him now, she can't look into his eyes and see the burning question he holds in his searing blue gaze.

In the darkness, she can feel his eyes on her, on them and it adds to her restlessness. She knows sooner rather than later she must face Rick and his questions but Michonne isn't ready to admit the truth. Michonne's thoughts swell between two points, reuniting with her son and how she is going to get out of Alexandria with him. Somehow, she knows Rick is not going to let her go easily with Andre.

* * *

 **A/N: Look no cliffhanger. Aren't you all proud of me? So, what do you think about the reunion? Hope it was okay. Also, thought on what Michonne is going to do? Better yet, what do you think Rick is going to do? So many questions, not enough answers.**

 **Also, that flashback smut scene, I wrote that scene months ago for another part of the story and I scratched it but I love the scene so much. I was determined to use it. So ta-da!**

 **As always thank you for taking the time to read, favorite, follow, comment, and DM me. I really appreciate you all staying with me on this journey. Until the next chapter. - fithola**


	16. Chapter 16

**Family's L4yers**

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"Have you been up all night?" Carl whispers as he creeps silently next to his father. Rick sits on the stair's landing looking into the living room. His eyes barely leaving Michonne's form as she lays on the couch with a sleeping Dre wrap in her arms.

Rick nods. His eyes burn from the lack of sleep but a restless energy pumps in his veins like caffeine.

"Is she going to take Dre away from us?" Carl asks voicing his fears.

"I won't let her," Rick says.

XxXx00000xXxX

She hears the hush sounds of voices, but can't make out what they're saying. Michonne knows it is Rick, she has felt his presence throughout the night cloaking her like a thick blanket causing her body to heat up with a mixture of warmth and oppressing pressure. She assumes the person he's conversing with is Carl. Her mind wonders to what the two may be talking about before her thought shifts to Andre as he moves in her arms. The rightness causing her heart to flutter with glee. The feeling of euphoria of reuniting with her son has yet to fade, Michonne doubts it will anytime soon and she's fine with it. She takes in his sleeping form and marvels at how beautiful her son looks. Michonne hugs him tightly against her chest before her thoughts return to the single thought that's been churning in her mind all night, how she's going to get out of Alexandria with him.

Michonne knows she can't go back to the Sanctuary with Negan but she also knows she can't stay in Alexandria with Negan still reigning over the new world of the dead walking. If Negan finds her in Alexandria with a son father by Rick Grimes, he will see it as the ultimate betrayal even though their union occurred seven years ago. Michonne has no doubt Negan coolly controlled anger will snap and all of Alexandria including Andre will pay for it. Michonne considers her options, she could try to stay in Alexandria with the family Andre knows. She could help them defeat Negan and put an end to his reign but somehow that feels like a betrayal to the man. He can be cruel and unjust but he has always shown her kindness and mercy. Also, Michonne considers Negan a friend and likes the man even with all of his faults.

She doesn't want her mind to settle on the dark attraction between them that confuses and frustrates her but considering her second option her mind takes her there. The attraction between her and Negan is a dark and a physical one, built mostly off of carnal desires. Michonne could take Andre to the Sanctuary and offer herself to Negan. She could finally accept his marriage proposition and reap all the benefits being his spouse will provide including protection. This also mean she will become a bigger target for Negan's enemy both within and outside his camp, which in turn will cause Andre to become a target.

Returning to the Sanctuary is no doubt the worse and most dangerous option, she knows Negan will protect Andre as his own especially if she dedicates herself to him as his wife but what gives her the greatest pause is Rick. If he stakes claim as Andre's father, and Michonne has no doubt he will, things will become messy and dangerous quickly. Rick does not know he's Andre biological father and Michonne knows he will not willingly let got of Andre without a fight, the thought causes a smile to flutter across her face at how loving and protect Rick is. The smile quickly fades as thoughts of what Negan may do when Rick refuses to let Andre go; she is certain that Negan will want to kill Rick and how can she stand idly by while the father of her child dies? The mere thought of any harm coming to Rick causes her stomach to church with bile.

Michonne's last option is the best for everyone, going on the road with her Andre. He's older and wiser now and can be more self-sufficient on the road. It will be a great risk with only her and Andre but it is a risk she can take. She can travel back west or perhaps further north. It will soon be winter with the cold the Walkers move slower which makes traveling easier but the colder months mean she and Andre will have to find shelter sooner rather than later. Food will not be a problem to procure, she already knows the location of a warehouse stock to the brim with food and finding safe shelter will not be a problem either; the problem will be people, it is always people. The other problem with going on the road is her fear that both Negan and Rick will pursue her until she's found. Michonne can only imagine what a clusterfuck that would be.

She looks down at Andre as he stirs against her chest, she leans down and places a kiss on the top of his curly head.

"My sweet boy, what are we going to do?" She whispers against him trying to think of the best option for her son.

Within an hour, Andre is awake and along with him the rest of the house. He continues his talk from the day before about his family and friends, Michonne assume it other members in Alexandria. She can't stop smiling at his babbling but she notes the people Andre likes and says are nice to him as well as the people he feels indifference to or dislike. He talks lovingly about his aunts Sasha and Maggie, his uncles, Glenn and Daryl, he gushes over his little sister Judith as well as his big brother, stating how cool he is and lastly his daddy, Rick. Michonne's heart double its pace as her stomach clenches each time Andre mention's his father.

"Carl!" Andre leaps from Michonne's arms toward the teenage boy. His father a step behind him, "Daddy!"

"Little Bear," Rick says holding out his arms as Andre leaps into his arms with familiar ease. Rick hugs and kiss his cheeks before he ruffles his curls. Michonne's heart drums violently in her chest at the imagine as a flutter starts in her belly and travels south. She abolishes herself from being turned on by the sight of Rick fulfilling his role as a father.

"Thank you, Daddy!"

"For what, little bear?"

"For finding Mama!" Andre says before he hugs Rick around his neck and giving him a kiss on the cheeks. The sight warms and twists Michonne's heart, her thoughts and decision becoming even more difficult.

"Mama, found us, little bear. She found us," Rick say staring into Michonne's eyes. The searing look is too much, she can't hold his gaze therefore she breaks the eye contact and looks away. The flutter continues at her apex as her heart continues to drum.

"Ok! Thank you, Mama for finding us!"

Her eyes returns to her son, she smiles and whispers softly, "Always, Peanut, always."

Andre gives Rick another squeeze around his neck before Rick releases him. He slides to stand and moves towards Carl.

"Come on, Dre let's get cleaned up before we have breakfast."

Michonne immediately leaps to her feet grabbing her blade, which Carl returned to her last night right before dinner. Rick reaches for his colt python, squaring off with Michonne.

"Relax!" Carl says to both adult while Andre looks back and forth between the two with a pensive look knitting his eyebrows.

"Mama?"

It is Rick who replies, "It is okay, son."

It sounds like he's trying to convince himself more than Andre.

"We are going to get clean up and then we'll be back for breakfast. We'll be gone for fifteen minutes, I promise," Carl says to Michonne, "We'll be back."

"Mama, it's okay. I'll be back, stay with Daddy," Andre says moving to pat her hand, Michonne nods and smiles as bright as she can through the panic racing through her chest. Andre returns her smile before he happily starts off towards the stairs while Carl hesitantly backs away from the two adults.

Rick slowly takes his hand away from his gun, he moves slightly out of Michonne's line of sight towards the foyer. Michonne watches him carefully, tensing her muscle just in case Rick tries anything. Shen hopes he doesn't and a part of her know he will not but she finds it too easy for her to let her guard down when she's around him, so she remains tense and alert. When he returns fully to her line of sight, he holds a stack of clothes and a small bag of what appears to be some toiletries.

"Sasha dropped this off late last night. I believe y'all the same size," Rick says offering the items to Michonne. Tentatively with her blade still at the ready, Michonne takes the items with her free hand.

"There's a bathroom down the hall-"

"I know where it is."

Rick's eyes study her face, there's a softness and a wonder to the blue hue as he calmly regards her. Michonne feels her walls willingly want to tumble down but she forcefully holds them up, not ready to fall for him. He lifts his head and finishes his offering, "You can get cleaned up and change."

Michonne looks toward the stairs where Carl and Andre ascended to, she knows Rick can see the longing and worry in her eyes but she doesn't try to hide it from him.

"Dre-""

"Andre," Michonne corrects snapping her eyes back onto his.

"Andre normally takes a bath at night before bed, last night he didn't. Carl is just makin-"

"I could have given him a bath. I could have-"

This time is Rick who cuts her off, "I know but you also needs to get cleaned up. Take a minute for yourself."

"I do not need a minute to myself, I had two years. All I need is my son," Michonne states looking at the stairs again.

"Michonne all I'm suggesting is you get cleaned up… I know I much oral hygiene is important to you and there's a new toothbrush in the bathroom waiting for you."

Her eyes move from the stairs to Rick's thoughtful eyes. The memory of their night together flashing in his eyes. Her walls tremble, begging to crumble apart.

"I promise Michonne, Andre is going to be okay. He'll be back."

She finally relents and takes the clothes; she backs away from him making her way to the bathroom. Once inside the small room Michonne falls apart crying silently. She was never a religious person, that was always her parents but for the first time in a long time she prays to what every deity remaining in this broken world a thank you for returning her son to her. After her quick prayer, she gathers herself up and allows the quick reprieve to cleans herself up. She's thankful for the change of clothes and the toothbrush. A smile whispers across her lips at Rick's thoughtfulness and memory of her need for oral hygiene.

When Michonne exits the bathroom, sounds of laughter and the scent of food cooking greets her. She slowly makes her way towards the sound. The sight before her shakes her to her core, she feels the tears at the edge of her eyes ready to spill. Rick stands at the stove with his back to her preparing breakfast while his kids circle the table. There's a beautiful little girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes sitting in a high chair, she looks to be around a year old. Andre plays peek-a-boo with the little girl who squeals with laughter. Carl sits at the table watching the two with a smile on his face. He notices her first and the smile barely fades. Andre looks up, a smile burst upon his face as pushes himself away from the table and rushes towards his mother.

"Mama! Mama! Come see my baby sister Judith! People like calling her Judy. I call her Didi. She likes it," Andre grabs Michonne's hand and leads her to the tables, "Didi… this is Mama, she's my mama but she can be yours too."

Michonne feels herself choke upon the swelling emotions. She senses Rick's and Carl's eyes upon her.

"Hi Didi," Michonne says softly to the toddler. The room grow quiet while Judith takes in Michonne's presence, after what seems a long moment but truly is only a few seconds Judith erupts in a fit of giggles and starts to babble. Michonne smiles as Andre laughs and claps with glee.

"She likes you!" Andre says taking a seat next to Judith. Michonne looks away from the two small children then to Carl and Rick. The smile on Carl's face grows wider while there's a pained expression on Rick's. When she locks eyes with him, she can see the gambit of emotions tear through him. Michonne is sure those same emotions are tearing through her.

"Please have a seat," Rick motions to the table.

Michonne nods and sit next to Andre. Carl gets up and helps his father serve them a breakfast of some sort of meat and grits. Michonne looks at her plate then at the others who are slowly eating. Judith makes a mess of herself, most of her food ends up on her face and hair. Rick barely takes a bite while Carl cuts up Andre's meat before he starts on his on plate. Andre bounces happily talking and eating.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

Rick and Michonne says in unison. They both looks at each other in surprise before Michonne quickly looks away. Andre smiles wide nods at his parents, he swallows his food before explaining to Michonne the complexity of feeding Judith. Carl smirks, sneaking glances between the two adults as if he knows a secret Michonne and Rick are not privy to. Michonne ignores the coy look and takes a bite out of her meat, she then looks questioning up at Rick.

"Deer. Daryl went hunting a couple of nights ago."

She nods and continue to eat. Judith and Andre provides most of the conversation, while the other three add a few words when allowed by Andre. A pain stings Michonne in the center of her chest at the thought of taking Andre away from this family he knows and adore. His eyes light up each time he says something and Judith babbles in reply. They're engage in their own conversation that only the two of them can understand. Michonne catches the smile on Carl's face as he watches the two interact, she can see his youthfulness in his smile and remembers he's only a kid himself. She can feel Rick's eyes on her face so she does her best to avoid his searing gaze as she silently talk to the ache at her apex, begging it to settle down. She watches her son happily eat and enjoy breakfast with his family.

Once breakfast is mostly eaten, Andre helps clean Judith's face and hands while Carl starts to clean up the dishes. Rick leaves to shower and Michonne helps Carl straighten up. By the time, the kitchen is clean Michonne has settle in the living room with Andre, Judith, and Carl. Rick returns with his hair a mess of damp curls, wearing a denim shirt and dark jeans with his cowboy boots. Michonne is almost certain it is the same one from seven years ago. She fights the rush that swarms her body at the sight of freshly shower Rick. She hates to admit that he's even more handsome now then he was all those years ago.

"Normally the young kids go to school with Ms. Brooks in the morning," Rick starts.

"How many kids are there?"

"Seven in total," He answers.

"Judith and Dre are the youngest," Carl adds.

"Older kids go in the afternoon," Rick declares which causes Carl to grumble and mumble, 'dad'.

"There's like three of us and half the time Ms. Brooks only has us read old history books."

"You can learn a lot from history," Rick replies his eyes settling upon Michonne's. She looks away at Andre and Judith playing with red cups.

"You don't have toys for them?" Michonne asks changing the subject of history.

"They have a room full of toys. Each time someone goes on a supply run they bring something back for Judith and Dre but they love those cups," Carl answers.

"Andre. His name is Andre." At the sounds of his name her son looks up with bright wide eyes. He smiles at her before returning to his game with Judith. "He's staying with me today."

"I figured as much," Rick says. Michonne can see he's weighed down by the things left unsaid between them. She surprise he hasn't said anything yet even though she can see the words and questions weighing behind his blue eyes, "Just- please do not leave the house."

"Am I a prisoner?"

"Only if you choose to be."

"Yet, you're leaving me with a guard at the door?" Michonne observes, having notice Daryl wandering around the house earlier.

"You're the Savior woman who cut off a man's hand-"

"I was revenging that girl he tried to hurt."

"And I am thankful but not everyone sees it like that. They see you as a Savior and they may want to hurt you or-""

She cuts him off with a low sneer, "They can try."

"I don't want them to try. I don't want to see you hurt... please… please stay inside."

Michonne softens at his please, the walls trembling at the sincerity in his eyes. She only replies by offering, "Judith can stay. She can stay with Andre and I," Rick says nothing as he picks up his youngest as Michonne adds, "I won't hurt her."

"I know," He replies the two words heavy with candor of his belief of her words, "Today is for you and Andre."

"Okay," Michonne says.

Rick nods and turns to leave with Judith, Carl is already half way out the door when Michonne calls out to him.

"Rick?"

He pauses and faces her, waiting for her to continue.

"Thank you."

XxXx00000xXxX

"We need food. We will not make it through a full week without going on a successful run," Abraham states.

"Why do we need to go on a run? I thought we were going to attack Negan?" Heath asks.

"What happened with the Michonne bitch? I heard she wasn't in her cell," Holly comments.

"Whether we attach Negan tomorrow, in a week, or a month from now, we need supplies," Rick says ignoring Holly's comment.

"Great more waiting."

"Can't Hilltop and the Kingdom hook us up like last time?"

"No, Negan is taxing more on them so they can't spare much."

"We already exhausted the areas around here for supplies and food. There is nothing left," Heath complains.

"Then we go further," Daryl states.

"We normally do not go pass a couple of hour drive, we can go further west," Sasha suggests.

"Sasha and I can leave at first light tomorrow," Daryl says.

"I can take another person and we'll go south," Glenn offers.

"I'll go with you," Tara volunteers.

"Rosita and I can head east, last time we had luck with several of the abandon factories near the bay. That is if Rosita doesn't mind accompanying me," Eugene suggests. Rosita rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulder.

"Fine. Whatever."

"And what about you Rick?" Andrea asks, she's been unusually quiet throughout the meeting, "Will you stay here in Alexandria and play house?"

Several confused looks move between Rick and Andrea. The room has been stifling with the malice tension permeating the air between the ex-lovers.

"Do y'all need couple's counselling and shit? I ain't no expert but fuck we can find someone y'all can talk to cause this shit is getting ridiculous," Abraham observes.

"We can leave so y'all can talk," Heath suggests.

Andrea throws her head back in a mirthless laugh, "Couple counselling? Ha, too late for that shit, Slick Rick, has alre-"

"Enough Andrea!" Rick shouts, "You can either be part of the solution or you can shut the hell up. Either way, I am done tolerating your bullshit and attitude."

"My bullshit?" Andrea asks incredulously as she pushes herself off the wall, "Instead of us planning on how to defeat Negan you want us to wait, again! Instead of dealing with that bitch, Michonne sneaking into our community, you put her up in your home. Instead of us gathering weapons to fight the Saviors you want us to go on supply runs for them. Instea-"

"I said enough Andrea and I will not repeat myself," Rick says cutting Andrea off in a steely cold voice.

"Andrea is right we shoul-"

Holly quiets, not finishing her sentence when Rick cuts his eyes at her, daring her to speak. Holly takes Rick's cold glare to heart and promptly shifts her eyes away not wanting to test Rick.

"The plan will still work but with no food to feed _our people_ then we already lost half the battle. Our first order of business is getting more food and supplies," Rick states.

Several people nod in agreement as Andrea continues to scowl at him.

"What if Negan comes back earlier?" Tara asks.

The question is directed to Rick but it is Glenn who replies, "Negan is not due back for a couple of weeks, if he arrives sooner because he's searching for Michonne, we will smuggle her out of Alexandria. We will feign ignorance until he moves on with his search and give him his dues as usual. This should buy us a couple of weeks to place our plan in action."

"How will we smuggle her out?"

Maggie adds, "I know a way out of Alexandria, we can get her out undetected if need be."

"Dwight knows the frequency and channel we use, he will call ahead and warn us of Negan's approach," Glenn finishes.

"Sounds like you all thought of everything," Andrea sneers, her upper lip pulling back to reveal her teeth.

"Andrea," Carol says finally speaking up in a soft pleading voice to her friend, "Rick is right. I've been helping with inventory and our supplies…food alone is dismal. We need to go on runs."

The two friends lock eyes for a long moment, Rick watches as Carol's eyes bore into Andrea conveying a silent message to the angry woman that seems to soften her resolve a fraction.

"Since we'll be light on man power… I'll take up another outpost shift," Andrea declares.

"Andrea, shouldn't you-"

Andrea cuts Carol off with a hard glare. Carol nods adding, "I'll help too."

Rick makes a mental note to talk to Carol about the cryptic looks between the two women. He moves on to conclude the meeting, "Daryl and Sasha will head west. Glenn and Tara south with Rosita and Eugene going east. You all leave at first light but I want everyone back before it gets dark, no overnight trips. The others here will take up extra shifts to patrol. Any questions?"

"Sounds fuckin' solid to me," Abraham states as other agree with the plan for the following day.

XxXx00000xXxX

The soft knock on the door gains Michonne's attention. She's reluctant to open the door and is surprise her guard hasn't greeted the person at the door. Even though Rick allowed her free reign of the house he still set one of his people at the front door, with instructions not to let her leave. Daryl had the earlier shift but the man with the staff, Morgan took over but has now been missing for at least an hour. The knock comes again and Michonne stands staring at the front door, she glances at Andre who's napping on the couch before she takes her sword and creeps to the door. When she looks at the peephole, she notes it is the girl that Fred tried to assault a couple of days prior. With her sword at the ready Michonne slowly opens the door, her eyes falls upon the young girl and a sleeping Judith in her arm. At the sight of the child Michonne immediately softens.

"Oh… uhh… Hi… uhhh… Olivia is not… not feeling good," the young girl stammers surprise to see Michonne.

Michonne nods and opens the door wider. She sheaths her sword and shuts the door behind the young girl long hair brunette.

"Sorry… I thou.. thought… Carl was going to be here."

"I don't know where he's at."

The young girl looks down at a slumbering Judith then back up at Michonne, "Can I leave her here? I have to go help Maggie."

Michonne nods and jesters to the stairs. The young girl follows Michonne's silent instruction and takes Judith up to her room. She glances out the curtains and notes the streets of Alexandria are quiet, very few people mill around. She wonders if it is always has been this way. Unsolicited a picture of Andre growing up and playing in the streets fill her mind. The unmade decision ripping at her, whether to stay or leave.

"We lost a lot of people."

Turning her head, she finds the young girl slowly and silently approaching her; Michonne's hand grips her sword, impress and wary by the young girl's stealth. She knows this young girl will not hurt her but wariness clouds her normally clear judgement.

"It was always quiet but there were a lot more people on the streets and on their porch but then Rick's group came, then we had a herd come through here, and now Negan. People stop wanting to go outside, they think it is safer inside."

"And you? What do you think?"

"Just survive somehow."

Michonne regards the girl coolly, now impress with her mantra.

"You're Carl's friend? The one who Fred almost hurt?"

The girl looks away from her embarrassment and shame coloring her cheeks, her eyes drops to the floor and Michonne can see the familiar fear, hurt, and anger. She felt all of that and more after she left Woodbury, after the Governor.

"What's your name?" She asks.

"Enid."

"I'm Michonne."

"I know, Michonne. Carl told me about you," she says her name with revere.

"Look at me, Enid," Enid slowly looks up until she locks eyes with Michonne when she does, Michonne finally speaks, "He hurt you. He almost raped you," The girl flinches at the word but Michonne continues on holding onto the young girl's eyes, "You're mad, you're embarrass, you're scared and ashamed. It is okay to be scared and mad but you can't let him win. You have nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. You're stronger than you think; do not let your fear, shame, or anger control you; you have to learn how use this… this lesson to make your stronger, to make you better and to help you survive."

"I was weak and if… if it wasn't for Rosita… he would hav-"

"And if he did, you would have survived and conquered that too."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was there once too."

"Are you better?"

"Not one hundred percent… but I am getting there," Michonne whispers, she glances at Andre and clears her throat returning her eyes to Enid, "I am almost there."

Enid nods allowing silence to encase them for a moment before looking down at the palm of her hand; glancing up at Michonne, she holds out a baby monitor that's clutch in her hand. The silence remains as Michonne takes the video monitor before the Enid quietly makes her way towards the door. Her hand falls to the knob as she turns it, she looks over her shoulder's at Michonne.

"Is he dead? Did you kill him?"

Michonne smiles and shakes her head, "Not yet but I'll make sure he hurts no one again."

"Good." With that Enid is gone and Michonne is left with two young kids and no one guarding the house.

XxXx00000xXxX

There's no one guarding the house when Rick arrives home. It is supposed to be Morgan on guard duty but no one is there. Andre. Michonne. Rick's feels his heart jump in his throat but he quickly stifles the boiling panic. He enters the house and quickly notices the living room is empty. No Andre. No Michonne. Her sword is even gone.

He searches the empty house twice before he grabs the radio from his back pocket and returns down stairs. That's when he notices the smell. Something is cooking. He rushes to kitchen, opens the oven door and sees a casserole dish warming in the oven. He wonders if Maggie or one of the neighbors made it. He knows it isn't Olivia because the woman is sick and doubts it is Carol, since she has been busy helping with inventory.

Rick is about to radio for help and start out the house when the sound of a child's laughter catches his ear. He turns and moves towards the backyard. What he sees floors him and fills him with longing and joy. In the backyard is Michonne, running around looking carefree and beautiful as she playfully chases Judith who runs on wobbly legs and Andre. Carl sits on the steps watching the game with a wide smile, he looks as if he wants to join the fun but his teenage cool and probably apprehension of Michonne keeps him watching at a distance. He watches the pure joy of laughter erupting from his young son and daughter. It is the picture-perfect vision of the family he always wanted. Rick steps out onto the back porch to get a closer look at his family.

 _His family._ The words echo in his mind and causes his heart to rumble violently in his chest. He inhales deeply trying to calm him expectation.

"DADDY!"

Rick is pull from his thoughts at the sound of Andre's call. He turns and watches the boy as he races to him. He launches himself up the steps and into his arms.

"Oppff! Little Bear! I don't think I can keep calling you 'little' much longer," Rick says hugging and kissing Andre. Carl stands to greet him. Judith struggles to run towards him, she trips and fall but Michonne is at her side and sweeps the little girl up in her arm. She tickles the girl and slowly makes her way to greet him. Judith quickly climbs into his free arm as Andre remains settle in the other. Rick tries to catch Michonne's eyes but she expertly avoids looking into his eyes as she hands Judith to him. Michonne turns slightly back and picks up her swords as Rick kiss his little girl a greeting hello. His eldest moves to open the back door allowing the others to enter; the group shuffles into the kitchen and Michonne moves to the oven and takes out the casserole.

"Dinner is ready," Michonne states as if it is a daily occurrence.

"You cooked?" Rick asks with a raise eyebrow settling the kids down.

She glances at him and shrugs, "It is not much. I had to be creative."

"Smells delicious."

Michonne gives him another shrug before she turns her attention to Dre, "Come on young man, let's go wash your hand and get ready for dinner."

"Didi too! She was eating dirt!"

Michonne laughs as she nods, "Didi too."

Rick watches in silent surprise as Michonne leads Judith and Andre to get cleaned up.

"It is scary," Carl says as sidles next to him.

"What is?"

"How easily she fits in, like she's meant to be here. Like Michonne is meant to be part of this family, our family."

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Our family._ The words of his son stays with Rick.

Dinner is less awkward then breakfast. Once again Judith and Andre make up most of the conversation. Dre recounts his day playing with his mother and Judith babbles happily as she eats. Michonne only adds a few details of their day while Rick listens intently committing this moment to memory while Carl wolfs down three plates of the delicious casserole Michonne made.

Once dinner is over, the group of five gather in the living room where Michonne and Carl indulgence in a few of Dre's favorite games, Go-Fish and I Can Do That. Rick plays with Judith, reading to her all the while stealing glances at Michonne, Dre, and Carl. Judith finally tires of her father, she wiggles out his arms and crawls over to Michonne laps. The warrior cuddles the child, squeezing her gently as she continues the game with the other children. Rick is content watching and hearing the laughter in his living room but he's filled with an overwhelming glee when Dre pleads for him to join their games and Michonne smiles encouragingly.

A couple of hours passes before games come to an end, Dre profess that Judith is tired. Rick stays behind and cleans up toys before moving to clean the kitchen while Michonne along with Carl's help gets Judith and Andre ready for bed. From the kitchen, Rick, can hear the laughs and giggles of his two youngest children, he can even hear Carl's deepening laughter and Michonne's musically one. A part of him wants to join and be part of the fun but he knows Michonne is likely to shut down if he makes an appearance and he wants to give this moment of normalcy to his all of children, including Carl.

 _Like Michonne is meant to be part of this family, our family._ Carl's words play on a loop in his mind. Rick only thought is how he can make this permanent. How he can make nights like this the norm for Dre, Judith, and Carl as well as Michonne. He seen the hesitation in Michonne's eyes and knows she feels, in order to protect Dre, she will have to leave with him. Rick knows Dre is safest with him and the family he knows but most importantly, Rick will be hard press to allow Michonne to take Dre away from him. He is willing to fight tooth and nail for his young son, whether Dre is biologically his or not even though Rick has a strong inkling that Dre is his son by blood and not solely by heart.

It is almost an hour and a half later when Michonne descends the stairs with Andre wrap in her arms. His head of curls is nested in the crock of her shoulder with his arms wrap around her neck. Michonne carries him to the living room and lays him on the couch; Andre shifts until he's comfortable before he gives into the pull of sleep his eyes pop opens as he calls out:

"Daddy?"

Rick sees Michonne stiffen as he approaches them. Michonne gives him the tiniest amount of space as he kneels to hug and kiss Dre goodnight.

"Goodnight Daddy."

"Goodnight Little Bear."

Dre smiles wide before a yawn captures his breath, "Love you, Daddy."

"Love you more, Little Bear," Rick say kissing his son before slipping off to the side to allow Michonne to lull Dre to sleep. She hums a soft melody while she rubs his back, not even a full minute passes before Dre is sleeping soundly worn out from the day's events.

Rick stands off to the side and watches mother and child, noting the similarity between the two, the shape of their face and eyes being the most noticeable. Michonne's looks adoringly at Dre as she strokes his back. A soft smile covers her full lips. A look of wonderment and love fills her eyes. She looks exquisite. Enticing rich dark brown skin with matching salacious eyes and luscious lips begging to be kiss. Rick wants her, he will not deny himself that thought or feeling, Rick's want Michonne in every sense of the word but more than that, Rick wants this, his family: Carl, Judith, Dre, and Michonne.

"Michonne," Rick whispers drawing her attention away from the sleeping child. He doesn't want to interrupt the moment but he needs to speak to Michonne. He moves to stand at the entrance of the room and waits for her. The mother kisses her sleeping son before moving to her feet and making her way towards Rick. He leads her to the hallway, where they can both keep an eye on Andre while they speak.

"We need to talk," He starts.

"Can we do this tomorrow?"

"Michonne, we need to talk."

"I know. I know we need to talk but it has been a long day and all I want to do is crawl up next to Andre and get some sleep."

"You didn't sleep last night."

Her eyes find his, it is a statement not a question, the air between thick with the electric current that seems uniquely theirs.

She fires back with a low whisper, "You didn't either."

"We need to talk about Andre. We need to-"

"Please Rick, tomorrow. Please."

They need to talk. There is too much between them that has been left unsaid. Seven years' worth of words and explanation that Rick is eager to discuss but as he takes in Michonne, he see the fatigue at the edge of her beautiful brown eyes. Rick wants to push the matter but gives in to her request of waiting another day. He nods as his eyes moves to his son before finding hers again.

"Did you have fun today with Dr- Andre?"

Her lips pull into one of the brightest warmest smiles he ever seen on her face. It warms his heart and draws him closer into her gravity.

"He's amazing. He's so smart and sweet. His laugh, I will never get tired of hearing his laugh. He's funny too," Michonne chuckles her eyes on her son. "He's also so protective, you should have seen him with Judith. The pair of them, they feed off each other and the way they communicate with one another it is darling. I barely understood Judith but Andre knew; he had no problem understanding her. It is like they have their own language. She would say kizzy and he'll start meowing like a cat; she would then laugh which caused Andre to roar with laughter and… I.. I haven't laughed like that in years. My stomach hurts. My face… my cheeks hurts from smiling all day and…" Her voice cracks as she's overcome with emotions; tears fill her eyes as she struggles with her words, "I don't want it to stop. I don't… I... I am so scared it is… this is all a dream. That I will wake up and he'll be gone. I… I don't think I could survive that. I don't…"

Michonne trails off, wiping away the unshed tears in her eyes.

"This is not a dream Michonne. Andre is real. He's alive and safe," Rick says gently placing his hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him with those wide chocolate brown eye and nods. Acting on instinct Rick pulls Michonne into his arms and embraces her, she immediately melts against him. Her arms wrapping around his waist as he holds her tightly against his frame. Rick inhales her scent and commits the feel of Michonne in his arms to his memory as he enjoys the moment with her.

The embrace ends all too soon, it is sweet but short as Michonne quickly moves out his arms and away from him. Rick yearns to pull her back into the folds of his arms. He yearns to pull her against him and capture her lips. Instead, he fights the temptation and allows her to slip from his arms. A sadness rattling his chest as he lets her go.

"You and Dre don't have to sleep on the couch, there's an extra bedroom upstairs," He offers watching her carefully. Her tongue flickers across her bottom lips and she avoids his eyes while shaking her head, declining his offer.

"The couch is perfect, plus Andre is already down and I don't want to move him."

"Tomorrow night then, I'll make sure it's fixed up for you."

Michonne's eyes fits shyly up to meet his before she cuts it away from him, "Yea… tomorrow night."

"Try to get some sleep," Rick says, he sees the flicker of panic cross her eyes and adds, "Andre will be here when you wake up. I promise."

She nods before she starts her way back into the living room she whispers to him, "Goodnight Rick."

"Goodnight Michonne."

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was kind of fluffy. It was not my intention, it just happened that way! I really hope you all enjoyed it! I am sorry for the long wait for an update. But look... no teasing cliffhangers! I getting better about that right?**

 **I wanted to show you all Michonne's thought process in why she was even considering leaving Alexandria with Andre. Her situation is not the cleanest and can get very messy and dangerous, I mean it is Negan we're dealing with guys! Negan! I love him but he's kind of crazy.**

 **I am currently working on the next chapter, I've written part of it just need to finish the rest. Next chapter we'll have that talk between Rick and Michonne, pretty much all will be revealed as to why Rick left the way he did that morning and what happened afterwards.**

 **Anyways - THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! For taking the time and following me on this journey. Thank you for reading, commenting, favoriting, following, and sharing this story. I appreciate you all so very much! Until next, folks!**

 **-fi-**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hello All! Apologies for the long wait! I kind of lost my notes and motivation but most importantly my notes. No worries I found them, my notes that is and some motivation! YYAYYY for us! Also this is another long chapter. I try not to make them so long but I can't help it.** **This is a mostly fluffy chapter but I apologizes in advance for the fuckery that is about to ensue. I am so sooo sorry. Enjoy! See on the other side of the line.**

* * *

 **L4yers Running**

"Daryl?"

The man pauses from mounting on his bike and turns to face his friend. Ever since her return from the Kingdom there has been a distance between them. Daryl is not sure if it has to do with his new closeness to Sasha or if it is the wariness of this new world digging into her. He moves away from the bike and closes the distance between them.

"Yea?"

"Y'all heading out for a supply run right?" She asks nodding to his bike and Sasha who stands near it.

"Yea, heading west."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to go in a bigger vehicle?"

"Yea, maybe," He answers with a careless shrug of his shoulders. Daryl prefers his bike. He also prefers feeling Sasha's body pressed against his as he rides but he doesn't tell her that.

"I need you to get something for me," She says holding out a folded piece of paper. Daryl takes it from her and opens the paper reading the single item listed. His eyes snap up at her with surprise, his eyebrows rising in question.

"Carol?"

"You don't have to go to a pharmacy or anyplace special. Most places have it, even gas stations… some houses too… please if,' Carol breaks off for a moment looking around before returning her eyes to Daryl's, "Please, if you can't find anything else today please… please find that."

Daryl notes the urgency in her voice and nods. Carol breathes a sigh of relief and nods her own head in return before leaving.

"What was that about?" Sasha asks as Daryl approaches his bike. He hands her the piece of paper before he mounts his bike. Sasha reads the requested item and gasps in surprise.

"Carol and Tobin?" Sasha asks stuffing the paper in her back pocket before climbing onto the back of the motorcycle. She frames Daryl's thighs with her own as she wraps her arms around his midsection settling in behind him. Daryl body's relaxes against her hold, loving the comfort her mere touch brings to him.

"Or Carol and Morgan," Daryl replies also noticing the new closeness between the two, "Fuck, Carol and Ezekiel."

"Carol is well liked, huh?" Sasha says with a chuckle before she adds, "She might be pregnant?"

"If not Carol, then someone else might be." Daryl says turning the bike's engine before revving it up.

XxXx00000xXxX

She comes awake slowly and stretches when she realizes something is wrong. Andre is gone. Her chest tightens to a painful degree. Breathing becomes difficult as her heart pounds madly in her chest. Was it a dream? She looks around the room and spots the toys he was playing with. No, Andre is real and alive. Immediately Michonne is on her feet with her sword in hand as she starts out the living room in search of her son. She hears the voices coming from upstairs but before Michonne has a chance to follow the voices the front door creeks open and Rick creeps inside the house, shutting the door quietly behind him with one hand while carrying a bag in the other.

"Where's my son?" Michonne asks her blade extended and pointing at Rick's throat.

"Put the sword away."

"Where is my son?"

Even with the blade to his neck, Rick doesn't look alarm. His steady blue gaze takes in Michonne's frantic behavior.

"He's probably upstairs with Carl and Judith."

As if to confirm what Rick says, she hears movement above her.

"Where were you coming from?"

"Several teams left first light to go on runs. I went to see them off."

"Why were you sneaking in?"

"I thought you were still asleep. I didn't want to wake you."

"Mama?"

Michonne whirls toward the small voice of her son. He stares at her with wide piercing blue eyes of his father, looking a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"What are you doing?"

"I… I… was…" Michonne stammers. She can't explain why she's holding her sword to his father's throat.

"Mama was just practicing, in case there was a bad guy," Rick says dropping the bag before he side-steps Michonne and walks towards Andre. He holds out his arms and the boy immediately climbs into them.

"Good morning, son," Rick says hugging Andre to his chest before giving him a kiss on his forehead.

"Mornin' Daddy," his son replies back smiling before turning his gaze onto Michonne as Rick carries him back to her. Michonne quickly puts her sword down and stretches out her arms for her son. He easily goes from Rick's arms to Michonne. Once in her arms Michonne squeezes him tightly and rains kiss on his face which causes the young boy to giggle.

"Mama just wants to make sure her baby safe."

"I am not a baby Mama, I'm a big boy."

"I know… but you'll always be my baby even when you're as tall and big as Carl."

Andre laugh as Michonne kisses his face and tickles him.

"Will I still be your baby when I'm as tall and big as daddy?" Andre questions.

Michonne pauses briefly her eyes finding Rick who quietly watches the interaction between mother and child.

"Yes, even when you're as tall and big as daddy," Michonne answers holdings Rick's eyes for a moment before returning her attention to Andre, "You will always be my baby."

Andre continues to giggle as Michonne showers him with more kisses, he returns her kisses with some of his own before he becomes serious. He pulls away from her and stares in her eyes, "Can Judith be your baby too?"

She takes in his blue eyes and doesn't hesitate to answer, "Yes, she can be my baby too."

"Good!" Andre says hugging her around her neck and rubbing his nose against her cheek as Michonne embraces him tightly while stealing a quick look at Rick. His face is stoic and his eyes is steady on her and Andre as they embrace. Too soon to her liking Andre wiggles out of her grasps and starts off for the stairs.

"Hey where are you going?" She calls after him.

"I'm going to get Judith! She the real baby!" Andre replies over his shoulder scampering up the steps.

A wide smile pulls at her lips as she watches him, the smile fades some when she feels Rick move alongside of her. Remembering her promise to talk to him, she releases a sigh ready to have the long overdue conversation. When she faces him, his stoic expression gives way to a distracted look; he holds up the bag he carried in towards her, having retrieved it from the floor.

"Here's some more clothes and toiletry, go ahead and shower."

"Rick-"

"We'll talk soon," He says with steady blue eyes. Michonne nods and takes the bag from him.

"Sorry about earlier… I woke up and Andre wasn't there and I panicked."

He only nods his acceptance of her apology, "Go on, I'll start breakfast."

Breakfast consists of oatmeal thicken with peanut butter and honey. Michonne has never had the combination before but all the kids seem to wolf down the meal. Andre even asking for a second helping while most of Judith meal ends up in her mouth instead of on her face and hair. After a couple of tentative bites Michonne decides that the combination of honey and peanut butter adds flavor to the normally bland food.

After the meal, Rick entertains Andre and Judith while she and Carl clean up the kitchen and table. By the time their tasks is complete Carl says his good-byes before leaving while Michonne joins Rick and the younger kids in the living room.

Rick informs her that in addition to the original three groups, several more groups left for runs and he'll be helping taking up some of the slack left behind. Rick starts to pack Judith up to take her to her care-giver for the day when Andre begs to let him stay with his little sister. Michonne watches silently, she enjoyed spending time with Andre and Judith the day prior but she doesn't want to put Rick in a situation he is uncomfortable with.

"Please Daddy, I want to play with Didi! Can she stay? Can she please stay with Mama and me? Mama said Judith can be her baby too!"

"Dre… don't you want to spend time with your mama like yesterday?" Rick asks dropping to his haunches to be level eyes with Andre.

"Yes but Didi came back home and we all played together. We had so much fun!" Andre answers with glee. He turns to Judith, he struggles some but picks her up, hoisting her on his side, "Didi you like playing with me and Mama, huh? Tell Daddy to let you stay with me and Mama!"

Judith stares wide eyes at Andre, she babbles some before she clearly says, "Mama." And points to Michonne.

Michonne gasps in awe. Rick's eyes fill with surprise flies up to meet Michonne's similar surprise look. Andre cheers triumphantly while Judith claps her hand together giggling and repeats the word. At the simple word from the little girl she only met the day before, Michonne's heart swells with glee and love. It shouldn't be this easy. It shouldn't be this effortless but somehow it is and that causes her to rejoice but also for fear and apprehension to set it. Her options to flee or stay becoming even more difficult by the simple word.

"Michonne?" Rick's voice is heavy with emotions, she can see the torrents racing across his cerulean blue spheres.

"She'll be okay, Rick. I promise, she'll be okay," Michonne says with earnest. It is the only answer he needs, Rick kisses his children's head goodbye before he stands to his feet.

As Rick makes his way to the front door Michonne follows after him.

"I… I.. didn't know he was going to say… to do that. I didn't… know she was going-"

Rick cuts her stammering off, "It's fine."

"I promise she'll be okay, Rick. I promise."

He closes the space between them, his hand comes up to the side of her face and gently caress her cheek before he pushes a stray loc of hair behind her ear.

"I know."

With that as his good-bye Rick is out the door and Michonne is watching the door shut behind him. She feels cemented to floor she stands on, finding it difficult to move. A panic flutters in her mind at the thoughts of roots settling into this home, into this life, and into Alexandria but with the panic also comes an overwhelming sense of peace and feeling of home that sweeps throughout her chest and belly.

XxXx00000xXxX

It is close to noon when she finds some blank sheets of paper which prompts Andre to bring down his crayon from his room; she sets Andre and Judith at the kitchen table preparing to search the nearly empty cabinets to make them lunch when she spots Carl rushing inside the house. Michonne searches the cabinets with one ear tracking Carl's movement above her. When he descends the stairs heading towards the front door, the sight of the backpack swung around his shoulder catches her attention. Michonne calls out to Carl as he adjust his gun belt.

"Where are you going?"

Carl pauses midway to the door and turns to face her. His eye goes wide as an uncertain expression crosses his face. Michonne thinks he will not answer, he has no reason to. He is not a young kid or even her child, she has no claim to him yet the words of concern still tumble out on their own. Remembering all of this, Michonne starts to say nevermind when Carl finally speaks.

"On a quick run."

"Run?" She knows several teams left around dawn to go on supply runs. She states this fact and asks, "Why? Other people are already out looking."

"Dad is going to want most of it… if we find anything for Negan's tribute."

Playing with Andre and Judith most of the morning Michonne almost forgot about the real world and all the trouble that awaits outside the comfort of the living room and the laughter of her son and Judith. It is so easy for her to pretend that this is her norm, being with Judith and Andre a normal occurrence but the truth causes her stomach to churn with bile at the thought of the truth of what awaits them, of what awaits her.

"I am sure your people will find food and supplies."

Carl shrugs in response and adds, "Maybe but we can never have enough."

Tossing a glance at the playing children equally coloring the paper and the kitchen table Michonne follows after Carl, "Where are you going? I imagine most of the places nearby have already been cleared out."

"Yea but there's a small bank near-by, since money is useless nowadays most people miss it. There is probably a breakroom with snacks and water. Also, people sometime stock their desks drawers with food. My mom use to work at an office and she always had snacks at her desk. It may not be much but anything will help. Plus first aid kit, aspirin, and stuff."

Michonne can't fight the smile that spreads across her lips at the young man's idea and wisdom, "Are you going alone?"

"Enid is coming with me. Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll watch out for her."

A swell of pride rises in the center of Michonne's chest; she doesn't like the thought of Carl going out but she's know that he is a capable young man. She reminds herself of the destruction he single-handily brought to the Sanctuary. She also respects and adores his need to help his family and community.

"My car."

"What?"

"My car… when I realized it was Dwight and where he was heading I doubled back and got a car I've stashed away near the Sanctuary. There's some supplies hidden inside; if you lift the back-seat cushion and you'll find my stash. It is not a lot but if will help."

Carl listens intently as Michonne directs him to the location of her hidden vehicle. Once Michonne is certain Carl knows where he's going, he says his good-bye and turns to open the front door. The door swings open to reveal a surprise Enid on the verge of knocking and Maggie standing less than a foot behind her.

"Hey Maggie! Bye Maggie!" Carl says nodding to Enid to follow him, she does so right after she waves a greeting at Michonne.

"Hiya Michonne," the green-eyed brunette greets her.

"Hi Maggie."

"May I come in?" She asks still hovering at the door.

Her eyes race across the empty porch and the quiet street of Alexandria before returning to the patiently waiting brunette.

"Uh… yea… yes come in."

Michonne ushers Maggie inside, the two women tread to the kitchen to find Judith scribbling on a piece of paper while Andre practice writing his name much to Michonne's surprise. She's in wonderment that Rick and the community taught Andre his ABCs even in the midst of all the disasters. It continues to show Michonne their love for her son.

Once Andre notices his mother's return and their guest his face lights up and he leaps out his chair to greet her.

"Aunt Maggie!" Andre says hugging the woman around her waist. She awkwardly hugs him with one hand as the other holds a wicker basket. She leans down and kisses the top of his head as she squeezes him tightly with one hand. This is the first time Michonne witness Andre interaction with other people besides Rick, Carl, and Judith.

"Hi Dre."

"Hi Baby!" Dre says directly to Maggie's extended belly as he caresses her stomach.

"I think the baby just kicked… the baby saying hi," Maggie replies.

"Mama the baby can hear me!" Andre says to Michonne with a bright smile and sparkling blue eyes before returning his attention to the baby bump, "Baby that's my mama!"

"Mama!" Judith echoes from the table clapping her hands which causes one of the crayons to fly out her small hand. She giggles as the crayon hits the wall and repeats the word, "Mama" as she reaches out to Michonne.

"Mama?" Maggie asks smiling at Michonne as she nervously shifts to pick up the fallen crayon. She returns the thrown item to Judith, then gently caress the little girl's plump cheek.

"She's been saying it all morning," She bashfully explains.

"Mama said Didi could be her baby! Now Didi is calling Mama, Mama!" Andre explains.

"I think it is perfect!" Maggie says with a wide smile.

"Aunt Maggie, will the baby call you Aunt Maggie or Mama too?"

"Mama!" Judith echoes throwing the crayon and falling into a fit of giggles, causing Michonne to picks up the fallen crayon.

"The baby will call me Mama or Mommy."

"Do I have to call you Mama or Mommy too?"

"No, Aunt Maggie is just fine."

"Throw it again and I'm keeping it," Michonne says handing the crayon to Judith. She pouts, tucking in her top lip and sticking her bottom lip out in a move similar to what Andre use to do when he was he age as if understanding Michonne's word. Michonne's heart melts at the precious face Judith makes knowing it is a lie she still says, "Don't do that face, it will not work."

"Mama!" Judith says holding up the crayon to her. Michonne takes the crayon and draws a big heart in the center of Judith's doodles before she hands back the crayon to the little girl who begins nibbling on the colorful stick.

"Not like that."

"She eats crayon's all the time Mama."

"Mama!" Judith says taking the crayon out her mouth and waving it at Michonne before sticking it into her mouth again.

"Didi you have to color! Let's color daddy a pretty picture!" Andre says climbing back in his chair and helping direct the little girl's attention to the paper in front of her.

"They're so cute," Maggie coos.

"They are."

"I'm worried the shenanigans the three of them will get into once this one is older," Maggie says rubbing her belly.

Michonne smiles, "I feel as if Andre will be the one who tries to keep the order but Judith will be leading the pack into the shenanigans."

Maggie chuckles her agreement before she lifts the basket she still holds, "I brought lunch."

"You didn't have too… but thanks. I was just starting to scavenge the kitchen for something."

"No problem, things are a bit tight but we manage."

Michonne leads Maggie deeper into the kitchen, behind the kitchen island Maggie places the basket down and the two women start to unpack the meal.

"I thought Rick might have sent you… to check up on me," Michonne confesses.

"I do want to check up on you but Rick didn't send me. He doesn't even know I'm here," She replies honestly, "I wanted to bring you food and see how things are going with Andre."

Immediately her eyes lands upon her son and Judith. Her heart warms at the sight. A smile spreads her lips as she tells Maggie how sweet, loving, smart, and amazing he is. She's enjoying every moment she has with him as well as Judith.

"I feel like I missed so much. He knows how to write his name. I started to teach him how to write his name… how to read but the Turn happened and then… then I lost him… I… I wasn't there," Her voice quivers as she tries to keep the tears at bay, trying not to ruin the happy time with somber thoughts.

"You're here now and if I do say so myself, he had an excellent teacher."

"You?"

Maggie's smiles wavers, a sadness creeping into her green eyes as she shakes her head, "My sister, Beth."

"You lost her?"

Maggie nods and adds, "Rick and them found the farm my family and I lived on a few weeks after they found him. Dre would only talk to Carl and sometimes Rick and no one else but somehow Beth got him out of his shell. At one point I was jealous that he liked her more than me but Beth… she's was that kind of person. You would have loved her."

A sad chuckle leaves her lips as Michonne smiles tenderly at Maggie, wishing she could thank the girl for caring for her son.

"The years apart were hard for me but I am grateful and blessed that he had so many people who care and love him."

"You're going to take him away?" Maggie asks. Michonne's grief and guilt stricken face is all the answer Maggie needs, "You'll take him away from his home? Safety? His family?"

"I need to keep him safe."

Green eyes darken with disbelief as she whispers harshly, "He's safe here! He's safe with us! With his family!"

"I know but-" Michonne trails off unable to finish her statement realizing the reasons aren't strong enough to argue.

"You're going to take him back to the Sanctuary? To Negan?"

"NO!" Michonne says raising her voice catching the children's attention. She smiles at them and lowers her voice, "Never. I would never do that."

"Then why? Why leave at all?"

Michonne doesn't speak, she looks away from Maggie's green searching eyes.

"Rick will not allow you to take him."

Her reply comes out a soft whisper, "I know."

"Dre may not be Rick's biological son," Maggie starts. The falsity of her words stab Michonne in the chest, she almost tells Maggie the truth of Andre's paternity but Maggie continues, "But for all intent and purpose Dre is his son; Rick loves him and he will not allow you to take him away especially without a fight. I don't want to see that happen because the person who will be hurt most by it will be Dre."

She looks up and locks eyes with Maggie, "I know."

The two women stares at each other for a quiet moment, Michonne can tell Maggie wants to say more but she holds her tongue. She also knows that the young brunette can see the anguish the dilemma is causing Michonne.

The tension between the two warriors is only broken when the sound of the children's laughter pulls their attention away from each other. Andre spells Judith's name out loud as he writes it on a blank piece of paper, the little girl repeats the words in her gibberish language. Andre yelps with glee encouraging her, causing the little girl to giggle and clap along with her big brother.

"We love him and we will not let you take him away from us," Maggie states. Michonne finds her eyes again with teary eyes of gratitude, thankful to know that her son is loved.

"Anyways, Rick is not the real person you'll have to convince," Michonne only tilts her head in question at Maggie, "Andre. I don't think Dre will be too happy with you if take him away from his home and his family. He's the real person you'll have to convince."

Turning her attention back to the children she watches their interaction as she comes to another realization, not only is Andre loved but he loves. He loves his father. His brother. His sister. His home. His Aunt Maggie along with so many other. Despite herself Michonne chuckles and agrees with Maggie.

"You're right," She says with an exhausted sigh.

"You should stay."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I… I…"

"Is this about Negan?" Her lack of a reply is enough for Maggie, "If you're worried about Negan then help us fight him, with your help we can defeat him."

"Maggie, I can't."

"You won't, there's a difference. Why are you loyal to this man? Especially, after everything you've been through at the hand of the Governor? How can you be loyal to a man so similar?" Maggie asks.

Michonne wants to be angry that Maggie knows about her history with the Governor but she is too tired to feel anger towards the kind woman. Also, she's not surprise at Maggie's knowledge considering her husband is the man who freed her from that hell.

"You won't understand," is her simply reply.

Maggie's face softens, she closes the distance between herself and Michonne then rests her hand upon Michonne's shoulder, "I can try. Tell me and let me try to understand."

Michonne inhales deeply and she can tell by Maggie's face that she doubts Michonne will explain herself. She surprises them both when she exhales and speaks: "The Governor was an evil monster who hid behind false veneers pretending to be this great generous man trying to help you. He was malicious and the devil incarnate cloak by charm that reeked of sulfur and deceit. Negan never pretends to be anything else but what you see. You may think Negan is manipulative but he is not, he is blunt and brutal. He can be cruel, hell even a sociopath but he never denies these facts. He has never lied about his intention or who he is. He's honest and that honesty maybe one of his most ruthless qualities. He knows he's not a good guy but he's not all bad either. He knows there's other people out there worse than him."

"You like him?"

"I respect him."

"And you're loyal to him?"

Michonne looks away from Maggie her eyes going to the still playing children at the kitchen table.

"Negan is surprisingly nice and caring to those he cares about but that number can be counted on one hand with fingers remaining. He saved my life. He protected me… he… I don't think I can betray him," She whispers returning her eyes to Maggie's.

"Even if it means protecting Andre? Protecting Judith? And their home?"

Michonne's face crumble in anxiety, anguish, and uncertainty. She bites her lower lips staring at the children once more.

"I am sure you'll do the right thing when the time comes," Maggie states confidently.

"How do you know?"

Both hands move protectively over her extended belly rubbing small circles, "Because this little is not here yet and I would do whatever it takes to protect it. I will do what ever it takes to protect them."

Once again, their eyes lock upon each other and a small nod is exchange between the women as they come to a mutual understand of respect and admiration.

"Mama," Andre calls out.

"Mama!" Judith echoes.

"I'm hungry."

"Un-gee," Judith repeats.

"Sorry sweetie, Aunt Maggie brought us over lunch. Give me five minutes!" Michonne says.

"Okay, Mama."

"Ay, Mama," Judith repeats before she tosses the crayon to the floor again. Maggie giggles going to retrieve the crayon as Michonne pull out the contain of the basket. Tomato soup and sandwiches.

Maggie returns the crayon back to Judith who blabbers a thank you, she kisses the girl forehead before she returns her attention to Michonne.

"I should get going."

"Stay. Have lunch with us," Michonne offers before the thought fully forms in her head.

Maggie smiles widely, pleasantly surprise by the invite, "Okay."

After lunch Michonne walks Maggie to the front door and thanks her for the meal and company.

"It is my pleasure. It was nice talking to you, to another woman and mother."

"It was and you'll be an excellent mother… you already are."

A smile crosses her face as she says, "Thank you," before it falters and she voices her fears, "I was there when Judith was born. Her mother… she-"

"Every woman is different. Every child is different," Michonne comforts cutting her off, "I didn't even know I was in labor with Andre until I was nine centimeters dilated. I had a doctor's appointment and during my check-up my doctor stared at me in amazement that I didn't feel any contractions."

"Wow! Really? So you had an easy labor?"

Michonne's laugh is deep, rich, and catching; Maggie finds herself chuckling as well.

"Oh no! I felt it all! I was dilated at nine centimeters for fourteen hours, Andre just didn't want to come out. I was too far along to get an epidural so I felt it all. I screamed so much I ending up losing my voice," She says with another chuckle, shaking her head at the memory, "When I finally hit ten centimeters Andre came rushing into the world less than ten minutes later."

"Knowing Andre somehow I'm not surprised at his birth," Maggie giggles.

"Just because what happened to Judith's mother happened doesn't mean the same will occur to you. Every woman, child, and labor is different but I will let you in on a secret," Michonne says lowering her voice causing Maggie to lean towards her.

"What?"

"We women have been bringing life to this world for centuries. We were made for this. It is just one of our many talents," Michonne says with a conspirator wink.

Maggie's already wide smile brightens as she takes Michonne off guard and hugs her tightly, "Thank you, Michonne."

Surprise at the embrace Michonne stands stiffly for a brief moment before she returns the hug then cuts it short by stepping away from Maggie.

"I should go check on the kids, make sure they are actually napping."

They exchange thank you and goodbyes again before Maggie leaves. As Michonne closes the door, she realizes the choice to stay or go becoming even less of a choice.

XxXx00000xXxX

There's a fire and renew energy in Enid that causes Carl to smile as he watches her effortlessly take down two walkers. She seems more alive and like her old self, even happier than before. She is not sulking and seems to have a new zest for life, it is contagious. Carl finds himself smiling and stealing brief glances in her direction.

The pair makes their way to find Michonne's hidden car after a fairly successful run at the bank. As predicted, people's desk drawers had various snacks in them. They found Ramen noodles, candy bars, tea, peanut butter, crackers, chips, even packets of Tuna. The pair also found a supply closet that had stacks of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, paper plates, cups, and several cases of water. The took what they could carry, loading their backpacks with water, and made a note to come back for the other items.

"You seem better," Carl finally says nearly the location of Michonne's car.

"I am."

"What happened?"

"I talked to Michonne."

"Really? When?"

"Yesterday, when I went to drop off Judith. She's nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean… I don't think people hate her. I think they are afraid of her. They've seen what she did to that man and that she's with Negan so they fear her."

"Yeah?" Carl says nodding, remembering the gruesome way she cut off that man's hand and how she fought at the Sanctuary. He compares those memories to the one of the crying mother holding her son, to the playful woman chasing after Judith, and to the kind woman cooking his family dinner. Carl finds her complex and intriguing but even as he tries to figure out who she is he concludes she's good. She's a good person. "Yeah."

He is pull from his thoughts as he watches Enid run up and stabs another walker in the head. She then twirls towards him with a smile.

"What did she say to you?"

"She said a lot of stuff but mostly I should use what happened to make me stronger and survive."

"I am glad talking to her helped you," Carl says coming to a stop in front of her.

"I am still scared and shaken up, Michonne said it is okay but not to stay there and I don't want to. I want to be better, stronger, and smarter; so something like that doesn't happen again."

Carl wants to say, it won't but he knows the world they now live in, so instead he pulls his girlfriend in for a hug. He squeezes her tightly and Enid returns the tight embrace with a squeeze of her own. When she relaxes in his arms, she pulls away and stares into his blue eye for a quick moment before she leans in and kisses him.

The kiss is soft and sweet, Carl takes a bold step and deepens the kiss. His tongue sweeps across her lips and slips into her mouth. The young couple are lost in the kiss until finally Carl pulls away hearing a rustling nearby. He looks around before returning his eye to hers.

"Come on, let's find this car so we can get back home."

Michonne's car is well hidden and the young pair almost miss it. There are a several walkers milling around the vehicle, working as a team the two dispatch the walkers easily before unearthing the car from branches and piles of leaves. Carl follows Michonne's direction and finds a nice stash of food hidden under the backseat along with a duffel-bag filled with some of her belongings.

Enid stuffs the last can of beans into her bag before she buckles it close and swings the now full and heavy bag over her shoulders. Carl with his bag already on his back moves around the car and slashes each tire.

Curious Enid observes him slash the last tire, "What are you doing?"

"Just in case."

Enid gives him a questioning look but Carl doesn't elaborate, he only shrugs his shoulder as the two teens start back to Alexandria. He doesn't think Michonne will run off with Andre but just in case, her getaway car will not do much getting away.

XxXx00000xXxX

Returning home later than what he wanted, Rick is greeted by another imagine of his what he hopes is his future. Judith and Andre color at the kitchen table as Carl reads a comic book while Michonne stands at the stove cooking another amazing smelling dinner. She must feel him step into the room, because Michonne is the first to turn and notice him. She gives him a soft smile before she greets him.

"Hi Rick."

"Daddy!"

"Dadeee!"

"Hey Dad."

Rick returns everyone's greeting, he kisses the top of Judith's and Andre's head before he ruffles Carl's long hair who grunts with annoyance but still smiles.

"Daddy look!" Dre calls out. Rick moves his attention back to his youngest son.

"What is it Dre?"

"I drew a picture of our family!" Dre sings smiling at Rick with a toothy grin, Rick moves from Carl to look down at Dre's drawing. It is astonishingly good drawing for a six-year-old. Dre doesn't draw stick figures like most kids and call them people, he's doodles are always impressive. Rick always assumed that one of his parents must have been an artist, now Rick can see that the talent comes from Michonne.

"That is me, Carl, Judith, you and Mama. I worked on it all day! Judith drew a picture too then she ate the paper!" Dre says pointing to a sticky wad of paper on the table.

Rick smiles as he looks at the picture, noticing the various details like the bandage Carl wears over his eyes and his sheriff's hat. Judith with her sandy brown curls and red solo cup. Dre with his blue eyes and what looks like his favorite Wolverine action figure. Rick smiles at how Dre drew him with his leg severely bowed wearing his gun belt. He marvels at how eloquently Dre drew Michonne's long dread with her katana in hand.

"Why is Mama's like that?" Rick asks noticing the roundness of Michonne's stomach in the picture.

"Because there's a baby in her stomach like Aunt Maggie!"

"A baby?"

Rick's eyes spring up to Michonne, her back is bone straight and her focus is intently on dinner. He shifts his gaze to Carl who chuckles behind his comic book, then finally landing back on Dre.

"A baby huh?"

"Yea, Judith says she wants a baby sister."

"Did she now?"

As if on cue Judith mumbles and starts with a stream of gibberish.

"See!" Dre says making his point, "You have to give Mama a baby seed so she can put it in her tummy. Remember that's what you told about how babies are made."

Carl no longer can control his chuckles. He erupts into a deep rumbling laughter.

"Carl."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Carl says putting down his comic book and standing up fighting his laughter, "I'll set the table."

"So are you going to give Mama a baby for our little sister?"

"You already have a little sister," Rick says pointing to Judith.

"We want another one."

"Mama!" Judith calls out before breaking out into another stream of gibberish.

"How about I put up your drawing on the refrigerator and we'll think about a little sister later."

Dre narrows his eyes at him thinking for a moment before he shrugs his shoulders and concedes, "Okay."

Rick takes the picture from his son and moves deeper into the kitchen until he stands and places the hand drawn family picture on the refrigerator. He then makes his way to Michonne's side at the stove to see what she making for dinner with their meager supplies. Dinner seems to be beans and rice, but it looks fancier than any post-modern world beans and rice Rick has ever seen.

Answering his question as he leans in Michonne explains, "It is mixed rice and beans. Tomato sauce seasoned then reduce down and mixed with rice and a can of peas. The beans are for protein, reworked and with the right seasoning it will be perfect."

"I can't wait. Smells delicious."

Michonne gives him a coy smile before focusing her attention on finishing cooking their meal.

"Should I ask where Dre got the idea of you having a baby?" Rick whispers.

"Maggie stopped by with lunch. She joined us and after Andre woke up from his nap he's been nonstop about having a baby sister."

Rick notices Michonne avoids looking up at him. He takes advantage and allows his eyes to feast upon her. She looks lovely, her skin looks rich, soft, and succulent. Her hair is pulled away up into a ponytail showing off the smooth slope of her long neck. Her tank top reveals her shoulder with a tantalizing hint of cleavage.' He allows his eyes to travel down backside encase in the snug jeans she wears.

"Huh," Is his only reply which causes Michonne focus to shift from the food to him. Searing brown eyes bore into his, he can see the conflicting emotion and desire in her brown orbs. Rick dares and drops his gaze to her plump slightly parted lips; he licks his own before pulling his gaze back up to her salacious brown orbs. The natural pull between them intensifies and Rick feels himself leaning into her; his only desire to kiss Michonne fully and completely.

"Table."

"Huh?" Rick says snapping out of his enchantment.

"You should help Carl set the table. The food is almost done," Michonne says leaning away from him.

"Yeah… yeah."

Rick helps Carl set the table, then he helps Michonne move their meal to the center and soon everyone is eating. Dinner is lively, Andre and Judith still provides most of the conversation. Carl updates Rick and Michonne about Enid progress, how she's starting to feel and behave more like herself. Both Michonne and Rick are pleased to hear about the young girl overcoming what almost befell her. Rick only offers up a small amount of conversation, reporting that most of the groups who left were back but their yield wasn't as successful as they hoped.

He is surprise when Michonne encourage him, telling him the day isn't over and it only takes one to be successful. He doesn't fight the smile that over takes his face at her sweet words. He listens intently when Michonne recounts her day with his youngest children asking for details of their adventure. All the while stealing and exchanging lustful glances with Michonne. Dinner is perfect. Rick wants more nights like this. He wants every day to be like this, to come home to Michonne and his children. The thought of how to make his desires come true plagued him all day and continues to do so.

Once dinner is concluded. Everyone goes upstairs to get ready for bed. Rick sets up the spare bedroom for Michonne and Andre then peeks in on bath time. Andre jumps into the bath splashing about acting like a pirate with his wolverine toy while Michonne towels Judith dry. The little girl holds a yellow rubber duck in her mouth with one hand while pulling on Michonne's loc with the other.

"Need help?" He gently asks.

"Nah, go ahead and do your thing."

"Well this is normally my thing."

"I got it," Michonne shyly replies smiling up at him.

He returns the smile before he leaves giving them some privacy. On his way to clean up the kitchen he spots Carl toying with a portable DVD player.

"You okay?"

"Yea. Do you know where that one Veggie Tale movie is at? The one with the bunny song?"

"The dresser in my bedroom, in the my sock drawer."

Carl raises his eyebrow in question.

"I had to hide it from Dre. I started to hear that damn bunny song in my sleep."

"I know what you mean. I found myself humming it several times," Carl says with a chuckle, "Cool, thanks! Michonne was talking about how before she and Dre use to watch a movie before bed, so I'm just getting it ready for her."

The proud father smiles and nods at his eldest before heading down the stairs to clean up the kitchen.

Rick finishes the last dish when someone knocks on his back door; it is close to eight and night has soundly fallen over Alexandria. He opens the door to Daryl and Sasha who both look exhausted; they are the last two to arrive back from their assigned run. He directs the two solider to sit and fixes them the last leftovers of their earlier dinner. The two quietly and quickly inhales the home-cooked meal.

"Carol made this?" Daryl asks in between bites.

Leaning against the counter Rick shakes his head no.

"Olivia? This is delicious," Sasha praises.

"You have to asks her for the recipe so you can make this for me."

Sasha elbows Daryl who grunts but doesn't slow his eating, "I don't cook."

"Olivia didn't make it," Rick says.

"You?" Sasha asks, her folk floating midair in surprise.

"Michonne."

Daryl coughs and chokes on his mouth full. He exchanges a look with Sasha then stares at his half empty plate. He shrugs his shoulder before he digs in again. Sasha is not as dramatic, only an eyebrow raise in awe.

"That woman is full of surprises," She says before taking in another mouthful.

"Yea… yea she is," Rick says before asking about their run.

Between bites of their dinner Sasha and Daryl recounts their difficult and not very successful supply run.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Carol!" The call of her name from the dark causes her to jolt with surprise. Carol's hurried steps come to a pause as she spins toward the sound of the voice. The caller steps into the light cast by the street lamp, her face partially hidden by the shadows of the night.

"Oh! Andrea! Hi."

"Home is that way and Morgan's place is the opposite direction," Andrea teases her but her smile doesn't reach her eyes. The blonde's smiles lately have been tense and leaves her uncomfortable. Carol wants to blame her break up with Rick and the announcement of her possible pregnancy but if Carol is honest with herself, Andrea has been acting strange and suspicious even before then. Now the woman's constant sneaking and sulking around at night, whisper conversations with old Alexandrian faithful's, and agitated attitude alarms Carol.

Carol pushes a smirk across her own face as she replies, "I'm actually on my way to Rick's."

Several emotion flickers across Andrea's face at the sound of Rick's name, most noticeably anger.

"Rick's? Why?"

"Daryl and Sasha are back. I just want to check on how their supply run went."

"Why you want to check on their run? I thought Rick sent more people out. Didn't Tobin and Gabriel both go out too? What you ask them to get you something special?" Andrea jest but the joke comes out flat and force a terse smile straining her face.

Carol wants to tell her friend the truth about her requested item from Daryl and Sasha but somehow she knows Andrea's reaction will be adverse and harsh. She's silent for too long and like a watchful hawk Andrea picks up on her silence. She turns her full attention on Carol, "You did, didn't you."

"I… I-"

"What did you asks them to find you?" Andrea asks.

"Ugh…I…" Carol starts her eyes unfocused as she tries to think of a palpable lie. Her mind goes blank for several seconds until she blurts out, "K-Y Jelly."

Andrea is stun, so is Carol unable to believe she actually said K-Y Jelly.

"Lube?" Andrea asks with a raise eyebrow fighting a laugh.

"I couldn't ask Tobin considering or Gabriel… so I asked Daryl," Carol says with a cool shrug.

Andrea barks out a quick laugh before she sobers the shroud of sadness and perpetual anger covering her again, "Well go get your lube and go on to your man. At least one of us is getting fucked properly."

"You know I'm not sleeping with Morgan, right?"

"That's right you got yourself at King!" Andrea barks out.

Carol forces a chuckle before she turns to start towards her destination, happy to be free on Andrea. She is halfway down the street when she hears Andrea call out to her again. She turns and faces the woman who slowly walks towards her.

"How do you know Daryl and Sasha are at Rick's?"

XxXx00000xXxX

"So, you're now having secret meetings without key people?" Andrea says.

"I'm literally only here to use the dryer. Our is broken and Eugene hasn't had a chance to check it out," Tara says looking like a deer caught in the headlights while holding a basket of clothes.

"And since I am going be fixing said dryer, I wanted to glance at a properly functioning dryer so I can deduce what may be wrong with said dryer," Eugene chimes in.

"Shut up," Andrea snaps.

"Hey! That's not needed," Maggie quickly replies defending Tara.

"It was impromptu." Glenn states.

"Impromptu my ass," Andrea snarls before turning to face Rick, "All your mindless loyalist coming over for an _impromptu_ meeting with no one to challenge your tyrannical reign!"

"I ain't mindless, doll." Abraham comments.

Andrea ignores him and continues on her voice rising as she speaks, "What is the fucking plan? For you all to make the fucking decision and then have your fucking goons enforce them upon everyone else! Like fucking tyrants?"

"Lower you voice. My children are upstairs!" Rick says.

"Andrea, I don't think that is what is happening here," Carol gently says.

She glares at the woman before pinning her ice daggers back to the cause of her anger, "Then what the fuck is happening?

"Lower. Your. Voice." Rick snaps his voice low, coarse, and cold. His eyes matching the tenor of his voice, menacing. Andrea wants to defy him but she knows better than to push Rick to his boiling points. She sneers at him, pulling her lips back from her teeth wanting to give a smart retort but she remains quiet allowing her glare to speak for her anger and displeasure.

"Y'all fuckers really need some counseling," Abraham mumbles.

After a moment of glaring in tense silence between the two, Maggie finally speaks up asking what is the next steps. The various groups who went salvaging were not as successful and supplies are still needed. Andrea drowns out the conversation going around her, she doesn't want nor need to hear it. She already knows what it is about. She understands the need to find food and supplies but she strongly feels they will not need to go on so many supply runs if they defeat Negan and stop giving half of their findings to the manic brute.

She's tired of all the waiting Rick and the others seem to be content with doing; they need to resolve this situation quickly both getting rid of Negan and his whore Michonne. Andrea mind whirls with a thought to getting rid of Michonne and provoking Negan to cause Rick to react and finally put their plan into action.

The blonde turns her attention back to the conversation and only hears the tail end of Glenn's redundant speech: "We need to go out further."

Maggie frowns, "Going out further means longer trips."

"We don't have much choice."

"Daryl and I can leave the day after tomorrow," Sasha volunteers. Daryl silently agrees with Sasha giving a curt nod.

"I'll go out with that kid JJ; he's proving himself to be capable and a valuable team player," Glenn offers.

"I can see if Heath wants to go with me," Tara speaks up.

"What about Negan? What about the plan to attack?" Rosita asks.

"Our main priority is finding food and supplies."

"So once again we're waiting!" Andrea scoffs as she rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.

"What do you suggest we do?" Maggie snaps.

"I suggest we fight! We have a good ass plan! We have trained people who are willing to fight. Why do we need to wait any longer?"

"Because those trained people will not stand a chance if they are half-starved."

Her hand balls into white-knuckle fists, her jaw clenches in anger as the hair on the back of her neck rises at the sounds of the irritating voice. Andrea along with everyone else turns to face Michonne as she enters the kitchen.

"What is she doing here?" Rosita asks with alarm pulling out her gun and pointing at the woman causing Abraham and Tara to do the same. Eugene looks around to the other's faces they do not look startle at her appearance but he takes a noticeable step back behind Rosita.

Andrea holds her breath with hope that Rosita will shot the woman and rid her of one of the thorns in her side. The balloon of hope deflates when Carl quickly steps in front of her with his hand raise and Rick tells everyone to calm down and put their guns away.

"I told you Rick put her up in his home!" Andrea comments.

"I thought you were exaggerating," Rosita exclaims.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Abraham yells.

Rick sneers stepping towards Abraham, "Your fucking voice! Lower it!"

"Michonne is Dre's mom," Carl explains.

"What?"

"The fuck you just say?"

"Huh? Like his real mom?" Tara asks with her gun still raise.

Glenn moves towards Tara and pushes her hands down, "Yes, Michonne is Dre's biological mom."

"How?"

"I had sex, carried him for nine months, and then I pushed him out of my vagina," Michonne quips.

Andrea narrows her eyes at the archer as he chuckles at Michonne's joke but she catches Rick's face reddens. Sasha hits Daryl's arm and the man only shrugs in response.

"Are you sure? She could be lying! This could be a trick!" Rosita says.

Tara reminds the groups, "Dre thought he seen his mom before… remember he saw that walker and almost got bit!"

Andrea watches Michonne's head snap over to Rick to confirm Tara's comment about Dre almost getting bit.

"This is not like that. This is different. This is real," Is Rick's only reply.

"How can we be sure?" Rosita queries.

"Ain't like we can take a DNA test!" Abraham cracks.

"Actually, there are DNA test that you can probably find at your local drugstore. Considering this is the apocalypse and no one is searching for such items we could easily find one and have Ms. Michonne and the little one take the test. It is basic after that, following the instructions that said DNA test will provide and then of course knowing that half the DNA fragments that makes up a child's STR profile comes from the parent's DNA. If the little one's STR profile contains framents that does not match the alleged mother then Ms. Michonne is not the mother."

Everyone is stun silence at Eugene speech. Andrea didn't even realize the man was still in the room.

"I am just stating that if anyone is in doubt then we could get definitive proof that Ms. Michonne is actually young Dre's mother."

"Andre is my son!" Michonne states firmly.

"It would hel-"

"Eugene," Rosita interrupts the man.

"Yes?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Trust us, Michonne is Dre's mom," Sasha states.

"Y'all ain't see what we did… y'all ain't see them together. No matter what you can't fake that," Daryl adds.

"Wow! That's so fucking cool that you found your son," Tara says in awe holstering her gun. Andrea swallows her disappointment as Rosita does the same.

"You didn't fucking tell us?" Abraham growls, his face reddening with anger.

"Who is Morgan guarding at the jail while-"

"While Michonne plays house?" Andrea finishes for Rosita.

"We thought it would be best if people thought Michonne was in the jail. Give her some time with her son."

"And you all didn't think to inform the rest of us?" Rosita question, her voice rising with anger.

"See once again Rick makes the decision and his goons enforce them."

"This wasn't just Rick's decision. We decided!" Maggie defends, "We thought it was best for everyone. Yes, we should have told everyone but the less people who knew the better. We all know how the majority of people feel about the Saviors including Michonne; we wanted to give mother and child time to reunite but even more important we didn't want Dre in harms way."

"No one will hurt the kid," Abraham states as he lowers his own weapon.

Sasha gives Abraham a cool side eyes as she crosses her arms over her chest and reminds him, "Perhaps but we had to be sure, just two days ago, you all were set on killing Michonne."

"Because she's the fucking enemy! For fuck sakes, she's literally fucking the man who's making our life miserable!" Andrea sneers, "Now because she's the mother of the little bastard-"

"THAT'S MY SON YOUR TALKING ABOUT!"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH REGARDING MY SON!"

Rick and Michonne yells at the same time both glaring at Andrea causing the room to fall silent. From the corner of her eyes she sees Michonne take a step towards her but she's quickly stopped by Carl and Glenn; her attention shifts to Rick as he stalks across the room towards her. His blue eyes ablaze with barely restrain anger.

When he's less than a foot from her he lowers his voice to a dark menacing whisper that can still be heard throughout the room, "I will rip your tongue out of your fucking mouth if I ever hear you talk ill about my son again."

Andrea looks away from Rick's intense gaze giving her no reprieve. She gives a curt nod of acknowledgement but doesn't speak. Andrea melts away from the center of the room to sulk against the wall as the other talk about a plan of action for finding more supplies.

Much to the surprise of everyone Michonne states she can be of help. She informs the room that is knows of a warehouse stock with food and supplies. Immediately Rosita, Abraham, and Carol are against the idea. Daryl states his concern that it could possibly be a trap; Michonne tries to assure the group it is not and she just wants to help and it is the least she can do as a thank-you to everyone for taking care of Dre.

"So you'll stay and fight with us against Negan?" Sasha asks.

"I didn't say that," Michonne replies.

"Of course, you're still with him!" Rosita says her agitation pouring out to her limbs as she starts to pace.

"Why not help us fight Negan?" Carl asks, "With you and Dwight… I'm sure we'll win."

"It's not that easy… to betray someone. You may think we're monsters but not all of us are."

Abraham barks with a humorless laugh, "No, your manic sociopath leader just go around smashing innocent people's head with a barbwire bat he calls Lucille."

"Fuck this mysterious warehouse, I say we stick to the plan and continue to go on runs. We'll find something eventually," Rosita states.

"If Michonne is right, the warehouse maybe our best option," Glenn debates.

Andrea watches as the room splits between those who want to scavenge the warehouse and those who do not trust Michonne. She rolls her eyes and stares off into the distance until something catches her eyes. She pulls her force on to the refrigerator and stares at the hand drawn picture. Something inside her snaps. She can hear it breaking deep within her as the sound of blood rushes to her ears. Andrea shakes her head to clear her thoughts and swallow her boiling rage.

"How far is it?" Rick asks.

"From the Sanctuary, it is about a two-hour drive. Alexandria is further south, so it will be three maybe three-and-a-half-hours drive."

"That's a day trip. Leave early, go check it out, and be back by dinner; hopefully with a shitload of food," Daryl says.

"Does Negan know about his warehouse?" Rick asks, his eyes lock onto Michonne as if she's the only person in the room.

Michonne boldly returns his gaze with one of her own, "No. I found it about a month ago. It is pretty well hidden and the road that leads to the warehouse is blocked."

"What about the area?"

"There's an outpost about an hour west of the warehouse and a pretty heavy Walker population," Michonne starts. She continues and describe the lay of the land to the group as a thought starts to form in Andrea's head.

If Rick won't fight Negan then she will; Andrea pushes the smirk forming on her lips away before she speaks, "I'll go."

All eyes rush towards her, she feels the weight of the questions in their eyes. Andrea pushes herself from the wall and steps towards Michonne.

"Andrea, I don't think this is a good idea," Carol starts.

"I don't trust you but we need to take a chance. I'll go but you need to come too."

"No!" Rick says before Michonne can answer.

"I'll go too and Andrea is right, we need some kind of insurance. It's a smart move to take Michonne with us," Rosita volunteers.

"It will make an easier trek if she leads us," Abraham adds.

"I'm not leaving my son."

"Like Daryl said it is a day trip, we'll be back by dinner," Andrea teases.

"I am not leaving my son!"

"If Michonne doesn't want to go then none of us should. It can be a trap."

"It is not. I assure you."

"I'll go with you Andrea," Rick offers.

Somehow Andrea is not surprise, of course he will defend the whore. Andrea refrains from rolling her eyes.

Tara who has been fairly quiet speaks up, "Rick, Andrea is right. If Michonne doesn't want to go how can we know for sure it is not a trap."

"Even if I were to go, it could still be a trap but it is not. I swear on my life it is not. I will give you the perfect step by step direction but I will not leave my son."

"I am not comfortable with this plan. There is too many unforeseen circumstances that can go array and I beli-"

"Eugene, shut the fuck up!" Rosita cuts him off.

"Michonne," Carl calls out grabbing her attention as well as the others, "We need you. I don't think you'll hurt us. I don't think this is a trap but I think you should go. Lead the others."

"Carl… I can't leave Andre."

"I know you're scared especially since you just found him but if you all leave first thing you can be back by late afternoon," Carl says then adds, "With snacks."

Michonne smiles at the young man. Andrea has known the kid for over two years and she had never developed the connection that is evident between the two. An ire raises deep within her causing her to tremble slightly.

"This is not only to feed our community but to give to the Saviors. This will help provide more time for us to put our plan into action. It will give you more time with Andre," Rick states. Michonne eyes find his, something unsaid flows between after a long moment of silence Michonne nods.

"We leave at first light."

Andrea smiles in triumph.

XxXx00000xXxX

"What are you doing?" Carol asks.

Andrea immediately stands and turns to face Carol. The two women lock eyes and Carol's eyes drop down to see Michonne's sword in Andrea's hand.

"Just admiring her blade. I always thought it was cool."

Carol watches as Andrea puts the sword down, turning her body half away from her as if she's hiding something else.

"I don't think you should go on this run tomorrow," Carol says stepping closer to hr friend.

"I need too."

"If you're going to kill Michon-"

"Carol! I wouldn't!" Andrea looks genuinely disgusted by Carol's suggestion.

"You still shouldn't go."

"Why not?"

The older woman stares pointedly at Andrea's stomach. It takes a moment but Andrea face's brightens with realization. She puts her stomach on her flat stomach and shrugs.

"It's still early. I'll be fine."

"It's still early! That's the reason to be concern!"

"I'll be fine!" Andrea says and with that she sweeps out the room before Carol can say another word.

Carol stands in the living room for a moment trying to figure out what is running through Andrea's head. When she turns to leave, Michonne enters the room with Carl alongside of her. She grabs her sword and a few personal items beside it while Carl hefts up a bag that was hidden behind the chair.

"Thanks for getting my bag. I'll be happy to wear my own jeans," Michonne thanks him.

"No problem. Thanks for the new comics."

The two say their good-nights to Carol as Carl leads Michonne upstairs to what she guesses to be the guest bedroom. Carol enters the kitchen just as Daryl and Rick finish their conversation. Daryl moves to the backdoor as Rick approaches her.

"What's going on with Andrea?" Rick asks.

"I don't know. She's been acting different... strange. I am trying to figure it out. As soon as I know anything..." Carol trails off.

Rick nods. It is all the assurance he needs from Carol. He bids her and Daryl goodnight and the two exits the house and start for their own respective home.

"Where's Sasha?"

"She left with Glenn and Maggie," Daryl says lighting a cigarette. He inhales deeply before he passes it to her. Carol takes an cleansing inhale of the nicatine. It causes her chest to burn and her to become light headed but the sensation is thrilling and much needed. She exhale and takes another inhale before she passes Daryl the cigarette.

"Did you get it?" She finally asks.

With the cigarette dangling from his lips, Daryl reaches inside his leather vest and pulls out a small tightly wrap brown package.

"There's a couple in there."

"Thanks," Carol says taking both the he package and the cigarette. She deeply inhales before she returns it to him.

"Carol?"

"Yeah?"

"Everything okay?" Daryl asks, the concern in his voice is palpable.

"Yea... it will be," Carol says. She stuff the package in the band of her pants at the small of her back before she pulls her shirt down. She takes the cigarette from Daryl and inhales one last time before she flicks the bud to the ground. She gives her friend a small smile before she turns and head up the stairs to her home ready to find answers and unearth truths.

* * *

 **A/N: AGGGHHHH! THAT DAMN ANDREA!** **See I told you, fuckery. I am sorry. I know the majority of the people hate Andrea but let's be honest she's needed. I wonder what that woman is planning and what was she doing near Michonne's stuff. Also, I hope you all paid attention because I dropped a pretty big piece that will come around later. I am actually excited for it. Can you all guess what it is?**

 **Andre! Judith! UGH! Aren't they dolls. I love them so much. They are so cute. *Heart Eyes***

 **What did you all think of this chapter? What are your burning questions? What are your awwww moments? What are your WTF thought? What do you think Carol is going to do with the pregnancy test? How is she going to get Andrea to take it?**

 **As a** **lways THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! For reading! Commenting! Favoriting! and Following my story. I appreciate you all! It means the world to be that you all are here with me on this journey! Thank you!**

 **-fi-**


	18. Chapter 18

**L4yers of Truth**

He can hear the tears in her voice when she speaks again, "What do you want me to say?"

Rick is desperate to hold her again, to have her in his arms. He wants to kiss away the tears and tell her everything will be okay but he needs the truth first. He needs her to remove all doubts and questions from his mind, the young boy is already in his heart but he needs to quiet his mind and any doubts. He needs her to validate what he already knows is true.

"Is Dre… is Andre my son?"

"You're an intelligent man, Rick. Why do you want me to say it?"

Silently he steps behind her, soaking in her lithe frame watching as she stands tall and fierce. She listens for him while looking around the dense woods with her blade outstretch at the ready and already dripping with blood.

"Because," Rick begins startling her. She twirls around on the balls of her feet, coming face to face with him. His eyes penetrates her dark brown orbs, holding her still with his simple demand, "I need to hear it from your lips, Michonne."

XxXx00000xXxX

Breathing is difficult, she can't catch her breath. Michonne feels as if she's drowning from the overwhelming flood of emotions tearing through her. She inhales deeply and her breath hitches in the center of her chest as if stuck in her lungs refusing to expand and be release as she struggle to exhale. Her vision blurs as the torrent of tears escape her eyes. The salty tears race to her open mouth as she continues to struggle to gain control. Wrapping her arms around her mid-section Michonne tries to calm herself and her sobbing cries. She almost misses the sound of the back door opening over her tears.

She knows it is him by the shift in the air, it charges with electricity from the power of his presents and aura. Michonne tenses as he nears her, coming to a stop within her bubble. She tries to regain hold of her emotions. She tries to control herself. She doesn't want to seem weak in his presence but there's a comfort there that rattles her armor. His aura lingers around her, caressing her right before he gently reaches and touch her bare arms.

"I can't," Michonne hiccups breathing in her tears. The sun has yet to rise and the darkness of night still holds to the new coming day but as she turns to look at him, his steely blue eyes glows against the darkness, shinning bright like a beacon of hope.

"I can't leave him again. I can't leave my son, Rick. I can't."

He only nods his head mere seconds before he opens his arms to her and welcoming her into his embrace. She wants to refuse the comfort but her body yearns to be held lovingly and her heart lusts for the connection of his. Before her mind can command other wise she moves towards him. Michonne hates how easy it is. How natural it is to step into his secure embrace. He encompasses her in the strength of his arms and holds her firmly against his chest. She tries to hold onto her strength but a soft rub against her back causes her to crumble into him. Her armor becoming undone by the strength of his and by the solace that he provides.

XxXx00000xXxX

Living with someone for an extended period of time allows a person to become familiar with their routine. The sound of their footsteps. Their breathing. Becoming familiar with their likes and dislikes. Their habits. Having lived alongside Andrea for over a year and a half, first at the campground outside of Atlanta, then at the farm, the prison, and now in the house they shared in Alexandria; Carol would have said that she knows the woman. Now she's not so sure, she knows Andrea's habits and routines but Carol feels as if she no longer knows the woman's heart, desires, or intentions.

Carol can't shake off the feeling that Andrea is hiding something. That she is unraveling and has been unraveling for a while but it was well hidden until the break up with Rick. She was always baffle at their relationship; she could understand their friendship but the romantic aspect, especially the lack of it, seemed force and always one sided. She was surprise that Rick allowed it continue for the four months it had but Carol can understand the need for companionship, it is the same reason she found herself with Tobin. He is a nice man but he was a placeholder to have for the lonely nights.

Automatically, her thoughts slip to the mysterious woman, Michonne, and her cloudy history with Andrea. Carol knows the woman's reappearance is another factor that causes Andrea to become unhinge. She wonders if Andrea notices the exchange of intense gazes between Michonne and Rick, or the profound palpable connection between the pair, or the charge atmosphere that surrounds them in an almost intimate cocoon. If Andrea hasn't notice, Carol is certain the woman will and it will only push her towards an unknown madness.

Her ears perk up as she listens intently at the movement above her as Andrea prepares to leave to go on the run with Michonne and a few others. Carol knows Andrea is planning something; she just doesn't know what but she's determine to find answers and unearth various truths. One of those truths starting with Andrea's possible pregnancy.

"Fuck!" Andrea yelps out.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs Carol's ears trace Andrea's heavy footsteps from the bathroom to the hall then into her bedroom. She stomps around the room for a couple of minutes before her steps are in the hallway again and then into the bathroom. The awaiting woman quickly yet quietly makes her way to the kitchen as Andrea's stomps starts towards the stairs. The woman clumps into the kitchen the moment Carol pours herself a cup of coffee, the older woman glances up at her friend forcing a gentle smile across her lips. Andrea grimace in return dropping a pile of clothes on the table before heading towards the sink.

"Good morning."

"Ain't shit good about this morning."

"What's wrong?"

"The water! Something is wrong with the fucking plumbing, the water is not working," Andrea sneers. She turns the faucet knob, the pipes groan as several drops of water comes out and nothing else. "Fuck!"

"It was working just a minute ago," Carol says lifting the coffee pot.

"Fuck!"

"Damn, I can go get Tobin or Eugene to look at it."

"Fucking shit, I don't have time for this."

Putting down the coffee pot she watches as her friend turns on her heels starting back towards the kitchen table.

"Where are you going?"

"Spencer's. Hopefully he has running water so I can at least wash my face and brush my teeth."

"Maybe this is a sign you shouldn't go on this run."

"Carol…" Andrea stresses gathering up her clothes from the table. Carol can tell her patience is wearing thin.

"I don't think it is safe for you to go on this run."

"I'll be fine."

"What about the baby?"

"The baby will be fine."

"I am just worried-"

"Don't be," Andrea snaps cutting Carol off. Carol follows a step behind as she stomps toward the front door.

"You haven't even got yourself checked. You shou-"

"Carol!" Andrea shouts whipping around to face the woman.

"You're my friend. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I am fine. The baby is fine."

"Then let's make sure. Don't go on this run. Come with me to Hilltop. We'll see Dr. Carson and get a sonogram of the baby, we can make sure you and the baby are okay," Carol says gently. She watches Andrea's face closely and is surprise at the wave of panic that dashes across her eyes.

"I have to go on this run."

"You don't have to, if you go to Hilltop then I'll take your place."

"I _have_ to go."

The two women lock eyes, coldly regarding each other for almost a full minute before Andrea takes a step away and turns to the door.

"Tell Darla sorry for the noise and you may not want to use the upstairs bathroom until someone fixes the water," Andrea says as her goodbye as she breezes out the front door dismissing Carol's concerns.

Carol stares at the door willing Andrea to return but knowing the woman will not. She allows a few minutes to pass before heading for the stairs. Her heart races as she takes them two at time rushing towards the common bathroom they share. Carol barely slept the previous night thinking of this plan, at the first sign of morning she shut off the water in their house and drained the toilets of most of the water in the bowl. When she enters the small space, she closes and locks the door before she pulls out latex gloves and the package holding three different pregnancy tests. Carol knows Andrea showers at night; in the morning she relieves herself before quickly washing up and brushing her teeth as she prepares for the day. Using this knowledge Carol places her plan into action.

A silent prayer is said as she lifts the toilet seat, Carol breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of Andrea's yellow urine. She's thankful that Andrea didn't defecate as well, unsure what that would do to the test but more importantly Carol didn't want to have to literally deal with Andrea's shit. Moving quickly she checks the dates before opening the packages; she places two test on the edge of the sink before slipping her hands into the latex gloves. She grabs the first test and dips it to the toilet bowl before repeating the same with the second test while saving the third test for later if needed. The minutes that passes are agonizing. Her mind races with what her course of action will be once the tests reveals the truth of Andrea's pregnancy.

XxXx00000xXxX

"No! You're not going!"

"Dad, I am. You need me."

Rick tilts his head and narrows his eyes at his eldest as he faces off with him. He is ready for the day to be over but it's just getting started with it being barely past seven in the morning. It has been a rough start with Dre's cries and shouts as he threw a tantrum when Michonne revealed to him she was leaving for the day to go on a run. He had to calm down his youngest son and reassure him that his mother was coming back home. It is rare for Dre to have a tantrum as young as he is, he understands the need for Rick and even Carl to be gone for days at a time but at the thought of his mother leaving it must have trigger a memory of that faithful day. The day he ran from his overran camp and climb a tree to safety before Carl found him, effectively saving his life and separating him from his mother. Rick pulls out all of his tactics to soothe Dre, eventually shifting the young boy's focus by having Dre promise to watch and protect Judith like a good big brother. It calms Dre some but it is the promise to bring his mother back home that truly help calms him down.

Leaving Dre with Carl and Judith, Rick found Michonne crying on the back porch. He smiles fondly at the memory of holding her in his arms and how perfectly she fit in his embrace. His smiles wavers as he remembers the reasons for her tears and breakdown; the sight of her crying and vulnerable raises a power urge to protect and comfort her at any cost. Michonne also didn't want to leave her son just having been reunited with him days earlier; it took longer to calm and re-convince Michonne to come on the run then it had to calm down Dre. Rick wholly understands her fear. He shares with her his own fear that grips him, settling into his chest each time he's away from his children and only lifting when he returns to them.

Rick tells Michonne he would love nothing more than never to leave his children but it is his responsibility to provide for them and the rest of his extended family. They depend on him and now they are depending on her. He also reassures her that no harm will come to Dre while she's gone; even if something were to happen to Alexandria, Dre's family will lay down their life to keep him and Judith safe. Michonne tears abate at the earnest in his words and after several long minutes of silence she finally agrees to go on the run when he promises to return her to her son.

After settling the affairs in his house Rick trekked to Daryl's and Sasha's as the duo prepared to accompany them on the run, he informed them to stay in Alexandria. The pair was not happy with decision for them to stay in Alexandria but he explained it is best to keep his strongest fighters at home. Sasha voiced concerns of Andrea but Rick is certain the woman will not try to harm neither him or Michonne on the errand but he plans to keep a watchful eye on the woman in question.

Now minutes before their due departure, Carl stands before him wanting to join the small group on their unknown errand.

"Dre is already upset about Michonne going on this run, I don't need him upset because you're not here either."

"I already talked to him. He wasn't happy but I-"

"Carl. I need you stay here."

"Dre will be fine. Glenn and Maggie are watching him and Judith. Daryl and Sasha are keeping an eye on Alexandria. You need someone to have your back out there."

Rick inhales a surprise breath at his son's reasoning, "I'll be fine. This is not my first run and I don't think Michonne means me any harm."

Long brown hair swings side to side as Carl shakes his head, "I am not worried about Michonne. Andrea is acting weird, weirder than usual and Spencer is going on the run too and I-

He scoffs and cuts off Carl, "I'm not worried about Andrea or Spencer."

"Yea but Holly and Abraham are going too."

"Abraham and I may disagree about how I'm handling the situation with the Savoir but he is not going to attack or betray me, he's too honorable."

"Maybe not Abraham but Holly is team Andrea and let's be honest she's kind of crazy."

Rick chuckles. Carl is right, Holly is unpredictable. Along with Spencer, this run may not go as smoothly as Rick needs it to go.

"You can let me come or I can sneak and follow you," Carl says as a closing statement.

Carl's determination causes Rick to swell with equal amounts of anger and pride. Once the young man has his mind set to on something, he is a freight train until he reaches his end goal.

"You do everything I say, no bullshit."

A relief look crosses the young man's face, "No bullshit."

XxXx00000xXxX

The three-hours car ride is lively for the most part. Abraham jests and tells stories of before the Turn, when he was in the Army as a Sargent as well as stories of when he was a boot camp trainer. Holly remains quiet for the entire car ride, barely even chuckling at her boyfriend's joke. Michonne is impress with the man's ability to make everyone smile and cringe at his stories. She chuckles at the red-hair morbid sense of humor, it helps keep her mind off her son who she misses deeply. Carl and Enid encourage Abraham's madness causing laughter to fill the SUV; the young man also recounts Andre stories along with Enid's and Abraham's help. Michonne only adds to the conversation when prompting for more information regarding Andre wanting to know every detail she missed.

"If it wasn't for Dre we would have never made it to Alexandria," Abraham admits.

"Really?" Michonne perks up sitting forward in the back seat.

"Fuck yeah. I think it was that Beth girl. Never met her but heard she was a fucking saint. She put it in lil' D's mind how fuckin' amazing DC was."

Michonne looks at Carl wanting more details. His face falls in deep thought, a flood of sadness filling his eye as he remembers his lost friend. She doesn't want him to be sad but her curiosity holds.

"Beth use to tutor him; reading, writing, mathematics, history, and geography. She used to show him this picture book of the states with major cities and famous historical monuments."

"It was after that Terminus death trap, we were held up in a church and I was trying to convince Rick and his group to join us to taking Eugene to Washington DC. The bastard said he knew the fucking cure but the asshat was a fuckin' lair but that's a story for another time. When Dre heard Washington DC the little dude was fuckin' excited. He wanted to go, he wanted to see the pictures in his book. I'm sure that's one reason Rick said yes."

"You all were at Terminus?" Michonne asks.

"Briefly, where you?"

Michonne is in awe at how close she was to Andre but kept missing him and Rick's group.

"No, I saw the signs but I want to stay away from people," Michonne replies remembering seeing the signs after her escape from Woodbury. She was badly injured and almost gave in to seeking sanctuary with the group but her fears won out. She gave the area a wide berth and continued on an aimless march away from her tormentor.

"So what happened?" Michonne prompts.

"Detour. Beth died and the kid, Noah, suggested we go to his home. He said it was secure. That's where he and Beth were going to head but the community was a dead end. We were about three hundred miles from Washington DC; Dre wanted to go see the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument Beth showed him in his book."

"I'll admit I was not fuckin' happy that Rick decided to go DC because of a fuckin' kid. No offense, I know he's yours and all but fuck. Shit didn't make no damn sense. Second time Rick and I butted heads," Abraham says with a chuckle before he sobers and adds, "Ain't the only one who felt that way but when Dre got sick well…"

Michonne gives the side of Abraham's head a hard stare but the man misses it, she turns her dark gaze on Carl.

"Dre got sick… real sick…" Carl starts.

Michonne feels her heart leap to her throat. A panic starts to boil in the pit of her stomach as bile rises. She inhales deeply trying to calm herself down, she knows Andre is alive and well but the thought of her son in pain causes her to ache.

"Didn't know if the tyke was going to make it," Abraham states, a heaviness starts to fill the vehicle, "Got so bad… going to DC became almost a final wish for the kid. Lil' D and Judith were the bright side of this fucked up life. When it got real bad, shit fucked up morale."

"Dad thought we could possible find a place that wasn't completely overrun with medicine or help of some kind. He was desperate. I don't think he would have trusted Aaron if Dre wasn't sick." Carl admits.

"Didn't stop him from punching the shit out of Aaron," Abraham recalls with another chuckle.

"Aaron told us about Alexandria and that they had a doctor who could help Dre. Dad didn't hesitate to bring Dre to Alexandria. It was supposed to be just him, Dre, Glenn, and Aaron but the rest of us refused to separate from them."

"What happened to Aaron?" Michonne asks wanting to extend her thanks to the man who reached out to Rick and his group, helping save her son's life.

"Negan," Enid whispers.

"He got Lucile that night at the clearing," Carl clarifies.

Michonne's heart clenches at the loss of a man she never knew but she is grateful to. She feels an anger swirl in her chest at Negan and the destruction he causes. A destruction that needs to be stop before it reaches Andre. Or Judith. Or even Maggie and her unborn child. As well as the other's she's slowly starting to care for like Carl and Enid.

"And the doctor?"

"Denise Cloyd. She saved me too" Carl says pointing to his head, "But she's dead, Dwight killed her."

Another swirl of anger rages.

"I thought Anderson saved the kid," Holly finally speaks up. Michonne almost forgot the woman is in the SUV with them.

"He was drunk off his ass, barely functioning. If it wasn't for Denise…" Carl trails off and doesn't finish his statement.

"No wonder your Dad hated him," Enid comments.

"And here I thought it was only because he was trying to fuck his wife," Holly jeers.

Michonne is surprise at the shot of jealousy that races through her at the snide mention of Rick and another woman. The shot of jealousy expands as she remembers what Carl told her during bath time about his father and his brief dating experience with Andrea. She closes her eyes and push away the unreasonable jealousy. She has no reason to be, Rick is not hers to be possessive about.

"He beat his wife and kid; he also killed Deanna's husband," Carl defends his father, "He was a porch dick."

"Dr. Anderson was a creep. He always said the weirdest stuff to me," Enid says shuddering besides Michonne. Before Michonne's mind can fully form on what Enid implies Abraham yells out.

"FUCK!" Abraham yells again before he comes to a stop.

Michonne opens her eyes and turns her attention to the front windshield. A large section of a bridge that connects the road is washed away, the remaining section is a narrow ledge and looks to be on its last leg. Abraham parks the SUV, pops the door open, and hops out the vehicle. Michonne and the others follow suit approaching the bridge. The vehicle Rick is in with Spencer and Andrea comes to a stop as well and the three depart the still running car.

"Fuck!"

"Did you know about this?" Holly asks Michonne with a hard stare.

"No. I come from the north and east, not the southwest."

Retrieving the map from the SUV, Carl returns to the group. "On the way here I saw another bridge in the distance, about forty miles southeast."

"We should double back," Spencer suggests.

Michonne watches as Rick takes in the surrounding area before he shoots down Carl's and Spencer's idea, "That's wasting time and daylight."

"And that's too close to the Savior's out post," Michonne quickly adds wanting to stay as far away from them as possible. She worries that someone will recognize her with Rick's group and get word back to Negan.

"How far are we from the warehouse?" Andrea asks.

Michonne knows they're close but she's not sure how close, never having come this route before. She steps towards Carl and studies the map with him.

"Three to five miles, I'll know when we get closer to Route 3 but this is a walker heavy area."

Rick paces the edge of the bridge, Michonne sees a plan formulating in his mind as Andrea starts with her own suggestion.

"We have a couple of options, continue on foot and cross the bridge, double back to the last bridge Carl saw, or keep heading west and find another way around."

"I say we take our chance and double back. We can keep out of sight of the Saviors." Spencer gives his suggestion. Holly agrees with him.

Abraham comments about continuing on foot, wanting the direct approach but knows they'll need the vehicles to carry back supplies from the warehouses. The big man turns drawing everyone's attention on Rick as he calls his name. Rick paces as he continues to survey the area, he comes to a stop for a brief moment before he turns to face the awaiting group. Like magnets their eyes find each other's, Rick holds her gaze for longer than necessary but Michonne knows why, he's recalling his promise to her. His promise to get her back to Andre.

"We do all three," Rick says pulling his eyes away from Michonne and turning his blue gaze upon the others. He looks at each member before he states his plan.

"We split in three teams. One team go west and try to find a route around. See what's in the surrounding area, if anything valuable we can always come back. The other team heads east, doubling back and trying to find a clear route out of sight near the Saviors' outpost. The last team continues on foot to the warehouse. The warehouse team will try to find a working vehicle; we will load up on supplies and radio either the west or east team to find the best way out."

"Andrea and I can find another way around," Spencer volunteers.

"No." Rick quickly shuts down the idea. "I need Andrea with me."

Another surprise shot of jealous pumps in her veins. Michonne clenches her fist and tries to get a hold of her unsettling emotions.

"Andrea is a sharpshooter, she can take out walkers from a distance and help clear a path," Rick explains. His eyes find hers for several heartbeats before he turns to Spencer, "You, Andrea, Michonne, and I are continuing on foot."

"Carl and I can double back," Holly suggests.

"I'll take the little-bit and find a way around," Abraham states.

"Good. Let's get going."

The group splits up four radios among each other and check the vehicles for gas before Michonne, Rick, Andrea, and Spencer load up with water and weapons for their trek through the walker heavy area. Abraham and Enid are the first to leave. Michonne waits for Rick, watching him as he says goodbye to his son. Her heart warms at the sight of father and son, her attention is stolen as she watches Andrea and Holly talking in low voices near the pair.

"Be careful okay?" Michonne says as Carl walks by towards the car Spencer was driving. He pauses, giving her a quizzing look; she drags her eyes to Holly and repeats her words, "Be careful okay."

"I will. You too."

The pair nod at each other before Carl makes his way to the car and hops in. Holly immediately turns the vehicle around heading in the direction they came from.

XxXx00000xXxX

Her sword slices the skull of two walkers causing the creatures to fall haphazardly to the ground. Michonne spins and takes out two more, one to her right then another to her left. As another approaches, she lifts her legs and kicks the creature to the ground before leaping towards it and stabs her swords through its eyes. Standing to her feet she runs towards three approaching beasts departing their heads from their rotting corpse with a single swing of her blade. She watches as the three crumple to the ground before looking up and watching Rick split the skull of one of the dead before kicking it off his hatchet. He spins and immediately lock eyes with her, a smile spreads across his lips as blue eyes blaze against his halo of hair plastering against his sweaty skin.

A heat falls to the apex of her thighs at his searing gaze; he looks handsome with his wet hair and grayish beard dress in a denim shirt that causes his blue eyes to boldly stand out. She has to shake off the flutters of butterflies and naughty thoughts with a shake of her head. Michonne also fights the smile off her lips turning away from him; she takes in her surroundings trying to distract herself from thoughts of Rick. She focuses on Spencer, he moves towards her out of breath having fought his own grouping of walkers. They've be walking for the last thirty minutes and the hoard of walkers is thick but manageable. The trio catch up with Andrea who stands by a clearing surround by several truly dead bodies.

"Is that the warehouse?" Andrea asks pointing down towards a half-burnt building.

"Yes."

"Doesn't look promising. It's half burned to the ground," Spencer observes.

"Half burned. That section you see was the cooler-freezer section. It is also a deterrent, people see that and think there's nothing left."

"Come on. We're wasting time," Rick says as he starts towards the warehouse.

The group stays off the road and move along the thick wooded area. Navigating through the woods Andrea and Spencer pull ahead of Rick and Michonne. Michonne is fine with the arrangement, she prefers keeping her eyes on Andrea not trusting the woman or the man she has wrap around her finger. She also finds comfort walking besides Rick in silence and battling walkers as if she was always meant to do this alongside of him.

She recalls the way his arms felt wrapped around her hours earlier as she was torn by the thought of leaving Andre. Michonne hates to admit that she found great comfort in his embrace, that she truly enjoyed it. She recalls their night together, that night they created Andre, her greatest love. The excitement and bliss he brought upon her. The way he strums her body like an expert musician. The way she screamed out her pleasure and his throaty groans echoing in her ears. Working on autopilot Michonne quickly kills two walkers as she recalls that night. She never regretted it. Not when it happened or the morning after, not when she found out she was pregnant with Andre and certainly not now, having been reunited with her son and his father.

Another dead fall to swing of her sword as she wonders, for the countless time, what could have become of them if she had told him her name when he asked before they departed the following day. Michonne recognizes the split in the woods as she walks but her mind is heavy with thoughts of Rick and Andre and finally making a decision regarding her choice to stay or leave Alexandria with Andre. Without realizing it she takes the higher route to the right, brushes weaves together making a makeshift patchy wall to her left.

"I went back for you."

His voice startles her out of her reverie. Michonne looks to her right and behind her but Rick is not in sight, she hears movement to her left and catches his silhouette on the opposite side of the patchy wall.

"I went back looking for you," He starts again. She doesn't answer, instead she watches him shift from side to side through the leafy wall before he starts to walk again prompting Michonne to do the same.

"Every Thursday night for seventeen-weeks. I went back to L4yers waiting for you. I would sit at the bar from five to close, jumping each time the door opened or closed praying that you'd magically manifest."

She can picture it. Picture him sitting at the bar nursing the same drink for several hours like he had the first night they met. A small smile grace her lips as she pictures him turning down the advances of women as he waited.

"The bartenders: Jake, Dougie, Velma, Ange, and Martin," Rick gives a hard chuckle, "I knew them all, they knew me. They knew our story. I left my information with them just in case you should up. I would ask them every day I came in and I always got the same response. I went back looking for you. Sometimes I would go on other days but since we met on a Thursday night I remained faithful for that day for seventeen weeks. I didn't work Thursday and when I had to I refused any late shifts. I would drive straight to L4yers from work in my uniform and wait. I used every available resource at my disposal to look for you. At one time, I thought you were a figment of my imagination. I searched for you. I waited."

Rick becomes quiet for a long moment, the wall of bushes and trees between them. Michonne's feels her heart doubling in size at his confession. She feels her armor melting. She feels her resolve fading.

"Why did you stop?" Her words are whisper but the wind still carries them to his ears.

"Carl."

She remains silent.

"Thangs… thangs weren't good at home and he ran off. I was on my way to L4yers when my mother called, she was panicked; she couldn't find Carl and he didn't go to school that day. I turned around and went to search for my son. Looking for you, I realized I was losing my son."

Michonne aches. She aches for him and his faithfulness. She aches for Carl. She aches at their lost possibilities. They're silent for another moment, the patchy wall still separating them. She wants to go back to that morning and tell him her name. She wants to do so many things over again, just to have another chance and the possibly do it right this time again.

"That morning… what made you leave?"

"Her."

"Her," She repeats.

"We were already legally separated. She thought it was temporary. I wanted to make it permanent but I was afraid. I was afraid to make a decision that I would regret, I was ready but fear kept me back. She found the divorce papers in my patrol car, she became upset and she tried to kill herself. Carl found her in the kitchen in a pool of blood. He called 911, me, Shane, and his grandmother. I didn't answer because I was with you."

The ache magnifies, she wants to hold Carl and apologize he had to witness such grotesqueness at such an early age. She wants to scream at Rick's wife for her selfishness. The silence returns as Michonne process Rick's confession. She aches but there's a balm that soothes her knowing he was searching for her, that he wanted more with her than that one night. Through the leafy wall Michonne watches as Rick takes down a walker with the swing of his hatchet. He moves effortlessly with confidence, Michonne warms at the sight.

"Growing up my mother would send me to her sister every summer. My aunt had taken over their parents, my grandparent's farm. I remember going to that farm since I was five years old," Michonne starts. She can feel his steely gaze upon her as they navigate the woods, the wall of bushes and trees separating them. She can feel his thoughts pressing against her, wondering what her aunt's farm has to do with their past. The wall gives her courage to confess her own truth to him.

"I used to stay with her for the entire summer. When I got older because of sports and other activities, it went from the entire summer to a month. In high-school I went for two weeks. By the time, I got to college I rarely ever went; when I did it was at my parents' request and for no more than a couple of days. After I met you… after that night, months later I found myself missing that place. Both of my parents died and–"

"Michonne, I'm sorry," He whispers into the air.

"My parents were older when they had me; I was their miracle baby. They were already in their forties when I came along but they were so young in spirit. I thought… I was sure they were going to live forever or at least for a long time. About a week after that night I got a call, my father was frantic. My moth- my mother died first, a stroke," She says trying to control her voice from breaking, trying to control the tears from overwhelming her. "Five weeks later my father passed in his sleep. Doctor said it was heart failure, I am sure it was because of a broken heart. He had a clean bill of health but when my mother died..."

The silence returns as Michonne gathers herself, her ache of losing her parents remains even after all these years. They were close. She had her aunt and a couple of cousins but it was always her and her parents until it wasn't. They were gone within a month and a half of each other and just as soon as she lost them, she found out she was pregnant with Andre. Her entire world shifted in that moment just as it had when the first moment she looked into his father's eyes.

"After their death, I felt so alone. I was hurt, confused, and scared. I was so scared…so… so I went to stay with my aunt for several months. One day during a sweltering summer day, my aunt and cousins practically dragged me out the house and to the Booths County fair. We were enjoying ourselves: the greasy food, the ridiculous games, and the hot sun. When all of a sudden I turned and saw you. I saw you and my heart stopped."

She doesn't know when she stops walking but she comes to a pause causing him to do the same as the memory of that day overtakes her. Turning to face the shrubbery wall she feels the weight of his cerulean blue spheres upon her. Even through the shrubs, leaves, and branches she can see the memory of that day race across his thoughts.

"I almost ran to you. I did run to you Rick; my cousins were calling after me as I rushed towards you. For months, I prayed for a sign and there you were. You said at one point you thought you imagined that night and for the longest I did too. But there you were in the flesh and all I wanted was to be in your arms, for our possibilities to bloom. I pushed people out of my way and ran to you and you turned. You smiled and for the briefest of moments I thought you were smiling at me but it wasn't."

"Her." He simply says.

The tears blind her vision, the hurt and rejection of that day swelling in her chest and crawling up her throat, choking her. Michonne knows Rick was unaware and truly not at fault but it doesn't help it from hurting any less.

"Her. The smile was for her. You hugged her. You kissed her. My prayers were answered, even though it wasn't to my liking it was an answer. You held each other and then that boy of yours walked up holding a stuff pig. It was the perfect family picture. I stopped, watching you and your family before you all disappeared."

Rick calls out her name but Michonne is already walking away doubling her steps. Trying to get away from the hurt. Trying to get away from the past. He follows after her on his side of the wall.

"You should have said something. I looked for you. I waited. You should have said something."

"It wasn't my place. You looked like a happy family. The man I met in L4yers was on the verge of divorce… this man… the man at the fair looked like he was trying to keep his family together."

"I was!" Rick snaps, "I was a mess when I couldn't find you. Carl was a mess from finding his suicidal mother and from his parents continuous fighting. Lori wanted to make it work. She wanted to try and I was drowning, so I returned to the only lifeline I knew. I fucked up. I gave up. I gave up on our possibilities. I gave up on us. I gave up on you and I shouldn't have. Michonne, I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

Michonne comes to a stop again, wiping away at her face a walker approaches her and she does quick work of dismembering it. Hearing groans behind her two more approaches from her right, she spins and removes both their heads with one swing of her blade. The tears continue to fall, she wipes her face in the crook of her arm.

His voice startles her but sounds distance, "The fair. The county fair was six months after we met. After that night."

She doesn't reply.

"You were pregnant."

Her breath catches in her throat. Still she doesn't answer him. She stands at the edge of their shrubbery wall. Michonne turns to face him but he's not standing were he should be.

"You were about six months pregnant."

His voice is low but it still carries. She looks around but can't see him. Looking ahead she spots Spencer and Andrea taking down a handful of walkers.

Wiping the tears from her eyes Michonne says, "What do you want me to say?"

There is a lull before he speaks again, a demanding wind carrying Rick's question.

"Is Dre… is Andre my son?"

"You're an intelligent man, Rick. Why do you want me to say it?"

"Because," He starts. Startle Michonne turns at the sound of Rick's voice directly behind her. She whirls and comes face to face with sterling blue eyes demanding the truth, the truth that he already knows. "I need to hear it from you lips, Michonne."

He holds her still with his simple demand. He holds her still with the weight of his blue eyes. The same color of her son. The same color of their son.

"I need to hear you say it. Is Andre my son?"

"Yes," She breathes. With the single word a thousand bricks that rested on her shoulder lifts and flutters away. Her armor crack and crumble around her. She feels an overwhelming sense of peace and relief. In that moment, she faces several freeing and frightening truths of her own.

She gazes deeply into Rick eyes and say, "Andre is your son, Rick."

* * *

 **A/N: Aaggghhhh! Another CLIFFHANGER! DAMN YOU FI!**

 **But seriously it is not really a cliffhanger, I mean Rick always kind-of, sort-of knew Andre was his especially when Michonne came back right?! She's just confirming it to him. Sorry about the cliffhanger, I truly am but I had to cut it off somewhere. I'm trying to stay away from 10k chapters, those make for longer update times.**

 **Now we know what happened to Rick and Michonne as well as what kept them separated. The reason why Rick left that morning. The reason why Michonne never did go back to L4yers. That Rick went back looking for her. That Michonne saw him months later at the fair (I don't know if anyone caught it but the fair was mention in an earlier chapter by Carl as was Michonne's parents death). That Michonne was so close to them (Terminus/ Woodbury) but somehow they kept missing each other. It is all good now because they are back together and everything will be okay, right? RIGHT?! All this damn angst and drama... ugh!**

 **So what do you think Andrea is planning (that sneaky hoe)? What do you think the results to Carol's sneaky pregnancy test will be? Do you think she'll confront Andrea? Or should tell Rick? What about Rick's reaction to FINALLY knowing Andre is his kid? What do you think will happen on the rest of this run? So many questions STILL!**

 **I will say, the DNA test mention last chapter is not the piece that I'll bring back around. No worries, I may give you all another hint maybe next chapter.**

 **As always THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for reading, sharing your thoughts with me (I do read every review-even though I don't reply, the nice ones and the not so nice ones), reviewing, favoring, and following my story. I truly appreciate you all taking the time out and reading this tale of mine. THANK YOU!**

 **-fi-**


	19. Chapter 19

**Y'all... I think this is my favorite chapter. I really hope you all enjoy it! See you on the other side of the line.**

* * *

 **Garden L4yers**

 _Title inspired by: Garden by Emeli Sande (ft. Jay Electronic & Aline Zion)_

A rage burns red behind her eyes, it sinks into her veins and pumps a bile of hatred straight into her heart. Her mind blanks as she raises her weapon gaining the warrior in her sight. She shoots several walkers, head-shots. They fall as a blinding envy soaks her with madness, the woman focuses on her true target. A ballerina on the balls of her feet, the samurai dances in and out of her scope, when she finally twirls into range the woman doesn't hesitate and squeezes the trigger.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Yes," She breathes. Rick feels himself waver under the power of the single word. Steady brown eyes penetrate his, the walls she built around herself crumbles as she strips herself completely bare to him with the powerful truth, "Andre is your son, Rick."

He staggers away from the words. He staggers away from the truth. He staggers away from Michonne as a range of emotions sweeps through him. Relief. Joy. Resentment. Peace. Anger. Love. Hurt. The torrents of emotions viscerally tear through him, he feels them wholly. Every range of each emotion swiftly swelling and deflating within him, swirling in the center of his chest, constricting his heart, and causing his head to become light with a nauseating dizziness.

Rick doubles over as he tries to reign in his emotions from Michonne's reveal. He focuses on his breathing and the truth he knew finally being confirmed.

"Rick." A soft breeze carries his name to his ears. Rick feels the air around him charge with her present and fill with her scent.

He stands erect and speaks as a swell of rage erupts from his lips, "You should have told me! You have stopped me at the Fair!"

It is Michonne turn to stumble away from him, eyes widening with surprise at his anger.

"You were married! You were with your wife and son!"

"You were pregnant with my child! I deserved to know! I had a right to know!" Rick snaps his voice rising with his increasing anger.

Michonne opens her mouth to refute his claim but nothing comes out. Her shoulders slumps in defeat, she suddenly looks exhausted. Rick feels the same heaviness as he comes to term with missing out on being a part of Andre's life as well as Michonne's. She looks equally bashful and wary as she stares at the wooded floor and her sword held aloft.

When she finally speaks the same tiredness seeps into each word, "You're right. You deserved to know but… but I couldn't bring myself to tell you. To come between you and your wife. To come between your family."

"You wouldn't hav-"

She cuts him off with a flick of her wrists and a single word, "Rick."

"I would have made it work. I would have taken care of you and our son."

Michonne starts to shake her head dismissing Rick's statement.

He admits his own truth with a sigh, "It would have been hard. It would have ended my already dying marriage. It would have been confusing to Carl but I would have taken care of you and our son. I would have done right by you and Andre. I had deserved the opportunity to try, Michonne."

"You have," She whispers. He watches as her eyes fill with unshed tears, "You found a boy that you never laid eyes upon. A little boy that you knew nothing about; where he came from or who was his parents and you loved him. You loved him, Rick. You protected him. You cared for him. You played with him. You provided for him. You taught him how to be strong, smart, and fearless. You loved him as if he was your own, even before you knew he was yours. You love him. You have, Rick. You have done right by Andre. You have done right by me but you're right, I should have gave you the chance to do that years ago and I am sor-"

As suddenly as it rages, his anger fades and the songs of emotions continues: relief, resentment, adoration, joy, hurt, and peace. Her voice breaks as tears spill from her eyes racing down her cheeks. Pull by her gravity Rick doesn't realize how close she is to him until his hand cups her face and wipes her tears away.

"I am so sorry I didn't trust you enough to do right by me and Andre. By your wife and Carl. I should have… I sho- I am so sorry Rick. You said you gave up but at least you tried. At least you tried… when I saw you with her and Carl… I was so afraid that you would choose them. That you would reject me because that night didn't mean as much to you as it did me. I was so afraid I didn't even try. I didn't try, Rick."

Relief, adoration, joy, and peace, the emotions churn deep within him until it crescendo expanding the walls of his heart with love. He drops his hatchet by his ankle and wraps both arms around her pulling Michonne tightly against his chest, trying to embed her into his own flesh. He feels her hands ball into the material of his shirt as she returns his embrace and holds onto him tightly.

His hurt and anger comes from knowing that things could have been completely different if he would have known about Michonne's pregnancy. If he would have simply known her name. His anger fades, becoming less consuming while he reminds himself that Michonne thought their son was dead for two years. He knows the loss and pain of missing out on his son first few years of life doesn't compare with the anguish he is sure Michonne experienced.

Rick doesn't want to but he pulls away from Michonne's embrace first. He wipes her face with the pad of his thumb, taking a moment to trace the bottom of her lips with his left hand causing her breath to hitch and lips to part. He wants to kiss her, once again he fights down the temptation and settles for resting his forehead against hers and breathing in the air from her lips.

"I'm sorry," She mumbles against his lips.

"I'm sorry too."

"I know."

"How?"

"Because, I'm sorry too."

Rick gently rubs his nose against hers before he steps completely away from her; he reaches down and picks up his hatchet.

"Come on, let's get going. I have a promise to keep. I need to get you back home to our son."

XxXx00000xXxX

Carl crouches down on his haunches as he watches the Savior's outpost. It is sparsely occupied with only a handful of people milling about the small compound. Most of the people being the elderly, women, and a couple children completing tasks around the compound. The few armed Saviors lazily guard their post, one even appears to be sleeping in what looks to be a makeshift tower with a hat over his face and feet propped up. Within five minutes and a quick march around the parameter Carl knows that to take down this outpost will be an easy task.

That thought quickly fades as he continues to squat hidden in the shrubbery waiting for Holly to reappear. He can't shake off the sinking feeling he feels churning in the pit of his stomach as he watches the unsuspecting people. When Holly first brought up the idea of recon when they got closer to the outpost, Carl thought it was a clever idea. He thought they could do some quick parameter recon of the outpost that could be used for future planning against Negan. Now with Holly missing for the last seven minutes he doesn't think it was the best idea to come so close to the compound.

Three more minutes he decides, if Holly doesn't return in three minutes he's going to radio his father. Carl inwardly groans at the thought of telling his father that he messed up. Before Carl can come to terms with how he's going to deal with his father's anger Holly sleuths towards him.

"Where were you?" Carl hisses.

"Went to get a closer look!"

"That wasn't the plan!"

"Relax kid! I didn't get caught."

He narrows his eye upon her, staring cold daggers at her before he commands, "Come on, let's go."

"We should take this post out! It will be one less to fight later."

If even possible his eye narrow into a deadly slit as he tilts his head to the side as if trying to better understand her. Holly continues and tells Carl how her harebrained plan can work, he listens to her ill made plans before he shuts her down.

"We're out number."

"I counted six guards and two of them are asleep."

"There may be more inside."

"Yea but by the time they get their bearings and come outside we will have the others taken care of and we can fo-"

"No!" Carl cuts her off, "We're not attacking the outpost."

"I am going to! I can do this alone if need be."

"I said no!"

"You can't make me…" Holly trails off turning to come face to face with Carl's gun as he removes the safety from his weapon.

"I said let's go."

"You wouldn't shoot me," Holly dares with a smirk.

He cocks the hammer back lifting the gun to her forehead, "Don't tempt me."

"Abraham will kill you."

Carl doesn't waver. His blue eye steady on hers.

Holly continues trying another approach, "Once that gun is out of my face what is to stop me from killing you?"

"Self-preservation."

Holly gives a hard chuckle but Carl can see the panic start to settle in her eyes. He continues to hold the gun steady at her head, his finger slipping to rest gently on the trigger.

"Rick isn't going to do shit to me!"

"My father is the least of your worries. I would start with my Uncle Daryl first. He'll start by skinning you alive. Glenn is not much for violence but I am sure he'll be outraged."

Holly is quiet for a long moment before she gives him a curt nod, "Fine, let's go."

Carl allows Holly to go first, lowering his weapon but keeping it at the ready. He may have diverted her plan to attack the outpost but Carl still is unable to shake off the sinking feeling.

XxXx00000xXxX

 _Where the fuck are they!_ Andrea internally screams. She grunts and grinds her teeth as she battles the overwhelming number of walkers. The last she saw Rick was when he was walking on the same side of the leafy partition as she and Spencer. He was over fifty feet behind her and appeared to be having a whispered conversation but Michonne wasn't in sight. Andrea had tried to double back and eavesdrop on their conversation but Spencer wanted to talk about their plan and a back-up plan if Holly failed with her hidden assignment.

As much as Andrea wanted to listen to what was being said she indulge Spencer in his need for her attention. Rick and Michonne were briefly forgotten as well as their own conversation as their pace doubled when the warehouse came into sight. Instead of waiting for the others the two bully their way through the fence and almost immediately they are overwhelmed by a hoard of walkers that quickly descended upon them.

Andrea can hear Spencer's own grunts and yelps as he fights in the midst of the large hoard. She doesn't spare a glance in his direction, distracted with her own attacking monsters. Holding a walker with one hand she uses the other to stab the dead in its temple. The creature falls and another quickly takes its place trying to bite her. Andrea struggles to fight the creature off, using her left shoulder and body weight she's able to knock the walker onto the ground as another reaches out and grabs her right arm. A panic drowns the little air filtering in her lungs as she tries to breathe while trying to get away from the monster. Twisting her arms, she's able to switch the blade from her right hand to left, she quickly sinks the gleaming blade into the eye.

As soon Andrea gains a small reprieve she reaches for her AK-47 and finishes placing the silencer on the weapon. She then turns and starts firing at every dead creature insight. They fall in quick succession but they're still heavy in numbers steadily and fearlessly coming after the living.

 _Where the fuck are they!_ As soon as the thought completes in her mind, she catches sight of Michonne and Rick running towards them to join the melee. The duo dip pass the fence barrier and within seconds they slay walkers with their back to each other as if they practice the dance a thousand times before. Michonne is gracefully, twirling around and cutting down each walker with a delicate sing of her sharp sword. Rick is dashing, slaying and dancing between the creatures with deadly precision. Rick kicks a walker in her direction and Michonne effortlessly swings her blade killing the beast as they continue their dance. They move in sync with practice ease working with an intimate familiar chemistry.

A rage burns red behind Andrea's eyes, it sinks into her veins and pumps a bile of hatred straight into her heart. Her mind blanks as she raises her weapon gaining Michonne in her sight. She shoots several walkers, head-shots. They fall as a blinding envy soaks her with madness, Andrea focuses on her true target. A ballerina on the balls of her feet, Michonne dances in and out of her scope, when she finally twirls into range Andrea doesn't hesitate and squeezes the trigger.

Click.

Click.

Click.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Andrea screams in frustration.

She's out of bullets. She goes to reload her weapon but her scream catches the attention of several nearby walkers. Two quickly descend upon her, using the butt of her AK-47 as a bat Andrea uses her volcanic anger and connects with one creature's head then the other, both falling with their skull crack open. She swings on another fast approaching walker, she connects but the creature only wavers on its feet still reaching out for her. She flips the weapon around and jams the barrel through the melting tissues of the creature's jaw and up into its skull. The walker goes limp and topples onto her causing her to her trip over a body of another walker. Andrea falls backwards slamming her head against the concrete.

Pain explodes in her head as her sight goes black for several seconds. A ringing starts to sound in her inner ear, she can hear the distance shout of her name being called. The sound of the battle continues around her and only intensifies with the high pitch ring. Her head aches and feels heavy. She moves from under the walker and slowly crawls on her knees trying to shake the heaviness from her cloudy mind. Her eyes rapidly blinks as she tries to clear her vision, her limbs are heavy and doesn't connect to the order her aching head gives it. Wading through thick muddy water, her movements slow and heavy. Her vision flickering in and out, like a dying camera. A throbbing pains roars within head as nausea swims in her belly. Her hearing muffle with the distance numbing ring. Andrea is sure this is how she dies.

Even with death looming in the distance, flashes of Rick and Michonne haunts the darken spaces of her vision fanning the fires to her burning fury. Refusing to allow her to rest. Refusing to allow her to accept death. Refusing to allow her to give up. Andrea pulls the handgun from her waistband and removes the safety and focuses on the sound of the melee. She feels movement before a growl vibrates against her ears, she raises her gun and squeezes the trigger. A body goes limp to her side.

She squeezes her eyes shut and pulls them open to be assaulted by the bright sun. Another walker grabs her leg clawing at her, Andrea narrows her eyes focusing as much as possible with her blurry vision and fires. Her weaken hand shakes causing her to miss, she refocuses and fires again.

Andrea stumbles to her feet, she takes down five more walkers with her gun as she searches the battlefield for Michonne. On shaky legs, she takes a step then another trying to get her bearing. At the sound of Michonne calling out for Rick in a frantic voice of concern, Andrea quickly turns causing her head to spin with a dizzy ache. She's surprise to see Michonne is closer than she realizes. Andrea tries to lift her arms but they are heavy pushing against an invisible weight; before her hand can rise a growl sounds near her, a mere second before she's knock to the ground again.

She grits her teeth preparing herself for another hard landing instead she falls against another dead corpse. The fall knocks her gun from her weaken grip, she uses her strength and tries to push the biting walker away from her. She feels her arms about to give out and the sulfuric breath of the creature painting her face, her anger remains as death draws near. Closing her eyes, she feels her arms starts to give out when the walker suddenly goes still and collapse upon her. When Andrea peels her eyes open, she stares up into the dark eyes of her old friend, Michonne.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Fuck! This is amazing," Spencer says in awe shuffling behind her with Andrea in tow. "There's enough food here to feed us for years."

Michonne looks around already familiar with the building and the pallets stacks upon pallets of food being stored in the grocery store distribution center.

"How did you know about this place?" Rick asks, his neck craning also looks around the building.

"Like I said before, I found it a month ago," Michonne replies. She feels the weight of his eyes on hers, she finds his blue stare and gives in to his silent question. "Mike, my boyfriend, he used to work for the company in Georgia before the Turn. The company was building a new warehouse and was in the middle of moving pallets of their stock to the new location when shit hit the fan."

"If you knew about this place before what took you so long to find it?" Spencer asks.

Like magnets her eyes finds Rick's again, "When Mike died, we weren't on good terms. I was angry at him. When I killed his walker body-"

"He was one your pets?" Andrea asks with surprise. Her voice gaining strength with each passing minute. Michonne is sure the woman has suffer a concussion.

"Yes…when I finally put him down, I buried all memories of him. I only started thinking of him recently after my first visit to Alexandria." _After seeing you._ She doesn't speak the last part but by the softness in Rick's eyes Michonne knows he understands her meaning. She had locked away all memories of Mike, Andre, and Rick until the day she reunited him with his eldest son and all the memories came racing back to her.

"After my first visit to Alexandria, I remember I was close to the warehouse and I started looking for it. Took me an entire month to locate it."

"Why not tell Negan?" Rick asks.

"This could have stopped him from pillaging us and the other communities."

"He wouldn't have stopped. He would have continued until he bled you all dry. He then would have let you all starve just long enough to depend on him. When he did finally share his stock of food, you all would not only be dependent on him but grateful for his false mercy."

"Sounds like you know the man well," Andrea quips. Michonne ignores the woman as she leads them through the warehouse. The few walkers that remain inside are quickly taken care of by Rick and herself.

"How were you able to get through the hoard of rotters outside?" Spencer asks helping Andrea sit in a chair near a dusty cobweb covered work station.

"I made new pets-"

"Pets?"

"Armless and jawless walkers. They can be used to deter other dead ones. I also covered myself with the some of the dead's guts. It covers your smell. Move slow enough and you're practically blind to them."

Spencer makes a face of disgust at Michonne before he has a chance to comment a loud clang and rattle captures all their attention. Michonne readies her sword as Rick lifts his weapon.

"Stay with Andrea, Spencer and I will go check it out," Rick says. He nods at Spencer who looks pale but the young man falls in line with Rick. The two disappears around three pallet stacks of instance mashed potatoes.

Michonne starts searching the work station for any supplies that can be use. In one of the cabinets she finds a large first aid kit; she finds an empty bag and starts placing any useful items inside. She has been to the warehouse several times, making her way inside twice but never searched the facility or drawers. The woman continues to search the area around work station feeling Andrea's eyes upon.

"I didn't choose him over you," Andrea starts. Michonne can feel the daggers of her cold blue eyes upon her but she makes no move to acknowledge her. "I wanted a life."

She pauses, Michonne can hear her take in a deep inhale of breath, "Once we entered Woodbury, you became hostile."

"That's because I could see it."

"See what?"

Michonne turns to face Andrea, the woman who was once her closest companion when the world ended. "That you were under his spell the second you laid eyes on him."

The blonde scoffs and shakes her head, "That is not true!"

"And you still are!" Michonne whispers. She waits for the impending rage that usual accompanies any mention of Woodbury. Any mention of the Governor but it doesn't arrive. There is a fading numbness and waning anger but the blind rage is no longer there. "A year later and you still are. After everything you know about him, after what he did to me, after what he did to the prison, and you're still under his spell," Michonne states in awe pitying Andrea for her desperate need of love.

"I stayed because those people needed me!"

"You stayed because you were weak!"

"Fuck you, Michonne!" Andrea snaps staggering to her feet. She wavers for a second before she gains her bearings, "You left! He let you go and you left me!"

"Maybe but I was barely a mile awhile before he sent Merle after me. They were waiting for me. I was able to kill a couple of them but they still captured me and brought me back. The first couple of days he just tortured me for no other reason besides he thought it was fun to try to break me. When I didn't he-"

"SHUT UP!" Andrea cuts her off staring angrily with disbelief at Michonne.

"You don't believe me?"

"Shut up!"

"He raped me, Andrea."

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Andrea yells eyes blazing with her own rage while her body trembles.

Michonne is quiet for a moment still waiting for the rage and the hurt of the past to swallow her hole. It doesn't come, she's soothe by the relief yet there's a part of her that misses it. It has kept her company for so long and almost suddenly the burning fury of pain, angry, and self-loathing is gone.

"Do you think because you willingly slept with him, it couldn't have been you? He would have captured you too if you came with me, but you didn't, did you?"

"He- he… he wouldn't ha-"

"Andrea," Michonne speaks her names with a soft chastising whisper. Light flashes on within her own thoughts, those feelings are gone because she finally let them go. They were a part of her armor, protecting yet weighing heavily upon her slowly stripping away at her soul and causing her to become callous.

"What was I supposed to do? We were on the road for eight months. How many times did we almost die? How many times did we have nothing to eat? What was I supposed to do?" Her voice cracks and tears fill the edge of her eyes yet the anger remains.

"You were supposed to choose me! You were supposed to come with me!" Michonne is surprise at the raise of her voice and the force behind it. Suddenly feeling tired, she exhales and takes a step towards her old friend with a soft murmur she adds, "You chose a warm bed over a friend."

They're quiet for a long moment. Neither woman moving or speaking. Each lost in their own thoughts. Michonne making peace with hers while Andrea grapples with her own choices. Andrea is the first to speak breaking the silence between them.

"You must hate me."

Hate. The word swirls in her mind, moving behind her eyes as flashes of Woodbury plays behind her vision. It flutters to her mouth and swish upon her tongue weighing against the inside of her cheeks before tumbling down to her chest, her heart, and finally settling in the pit of her stomach.

"No, Andrea. I don't hate you. I believe you didn't know the evils that were happening in Woodbury. I believe that you didn't know the truth… the true demonic depths of the Governor until it was too late. I am disappointed that when you did know you did nothing to speak the truth. You turned me into a monster instead of defending me as a friend, knowing I wouldn't hurt innocent people if I didn't have a valid reason. I'm disappointed, sad, and even hurt but I don't hate you, Andrea," Michonne says and she can see Andrea's shoulders slump in relief. "But I do not trust you."

"Outside... when I fell… that is the second time you saved me."

"I saved you countless times before."

"If you don't trust me, why did you save me?"

"Because contrary to what you may think Andrea, I am not a monster."

Their eyes clash against each other in an unrepentant stare. It is only upon Michonne's next statement that Andrea's eyes fall with shame, "I know what you tried to do out there."

The blonde refuses to meet her eyes but Michonne can still feel the frost of the woman's own hatred wafting from her unsteady gaze.

"I will never trust you, Andrea. As long as either of us live, I will never trust you. Know it may not have been the second time I saved your life but it sure was the last. If you try anything against me and mines again, I will not hesitate to run my sword through you, repeatedly."

Michonne is not deterred by the swell of fury that burns within Andrea's cold blue eyes. She glares as Andrea lifts her head with steely resolve. A new set of deadly determination birth behind her blue gaze.

"Is that a threat?" Andrea sneers, her upper lip quivering with her rage. "Or a promise?"

She steps toward Andrea capturing the woman's eyes with her own. As Andrea births her own determination so does Michonne; she refuses to lose what she just found. She refuses to don on the armor she once wore that ate at her humanity, she refuses.

A deadly assurance manifest within her dark gaze before she calmly whispers, "Neither. A threat can go unfilled. A promise can be broken but a guarantee. You can't go back on a guarantee and this… this is a fucking guarantee. You came after me or anyone I care about and I guarantee your death."

XxXx00000xXxX

Rick returns to find Andrea seething in silence while Michonne stuff nearby bags with supplies she must have gather around the work station. Along with Rick is not only Spencer but Abraham and Enid. During the search to find the cause of the loud metal clang and rattle, Rick and Spencer ran into Abraham and Enid who were conducting their own search of the warehouse.

The pair found another route twenty minutes west of the bridge and were able to make it into the north side of the warehouse without much incident. The walkers at the north entryway were only a handful and Abraham could easily handle them while Enid mowed several over in the SUV. Once inside, Abraham and Enid started to navigate the building and taking out several lingering walkers. A walker surprised Abraham which caused him to stumble into one of the dock doors causing the loud clang. Enid put down the walker and within a couple of minutes Rick and Spencer found the two.

"This is amazing!" Enid says in greeting.

"Fuck yea! We gonna be eating good tonight!" Abraham adds stuffing his mouth with a hand full of chips.

Michonne smiles as the other approach, "Did you all just get here?"

"Fifteen minutes or so, we found another way around that was only twenty minutes west of the bridge," Abraham mumbles around his mouth full.

"Any word from Carl?" Michonne asks.

Declining Abraham's offer of the chips Rick replies, "He just radio in with Holly, they're still over an hour away. I told them to meet us here. By the time they arrive we will be done searching the facility and loading up a working truck."

"How we're going to move all this food? Spencer asks.

"Saw some of them fork-lifts machine. If I can get one started we can load up a few pallets and pile them in a truck," Abraham suggests.

Rick agrees with Abraham's idea and quickly formulates a plan, "Spencer and Abraham work on fixing a fork lifts. Andrea, you know a few thangs about mechanics, see if you can find a truck that starts."

"I don't know shit about eighteen-wheeler, Rick!"

"An eighteen-wheeler will attract too much attention. We need something smaller, a delivery truck. I think there is a few by the dock doors," Michonne adds walking to stand besides Rick. "I'll go with you."

"I agree, find a truck less conspicuous but Enid will go with Andrea, if y'all need more help get Abraham. Michonne since you know the building I want you with me while I search it."

He waits for protest but everyone agrees with his plan and immediately the group fall out to fulfill their part of it. Michonne pulls out her blade resting in it sheath and starts to navigate the building alongside of Rick. It is selfish of him but he wants more time with Michonne, he wants them to continue to talk and tear down any remaining walls between them. He wants to continue to get to know the woman he met all those years ago.

"Was he a good man?" Rick asks. He knows the question takes Michonne off guard as her step falters but he asks again, "Was your Him, a good man to my son? To you?"

"Mike," Michonne replies with a soft murmur.

"Mike," He repeats chancing a glance at Michonne as they navigate the dimly lit building. She nods to herself before she speaks.

"He was a good friend. He desperately wanted more and I always found a reason to deny him. When I got pregnant he wanted me to have an abortion," a flash of anger at the thought of losing Andre rises in his chest but he doesn't interrupt her. "I wouldn't even consider it and when he realized that he stepped up. He took care of us as best as he could. He loved me and he loved Andre."

"Sounds like it wasn't enough."

A whisper of a smile crosses her lips as she glances at him, "It wasn't. He tired but it wasn't enough. I thought my son died because of him and for that I hated him for a very long time."

"I'm sorry."

Rick watches as Michonne shrugs a shoulder before she adds, "He was always at a disadvantage and that wasn't his fault."

"Yours?"

"Yes. Mines. He was always competing with a ghost. He valiantly fought a battle he was never going to win."

His heart pounds excitedly in his chest at her words. Rick allows his smile to take over his face as the pair enter a wide hallway adjacent to the warehouse.

"This way leads to the office, there's a breezeway that connects the two buildings together."

Rick nods and follows Michonne down the short hallway, across the breezeway and into the office of the distribution center.

"You and Andrea, huh?"

This time it is her question that catches him off guard. His steps halt as he stares at her.

"Carl, he mentioned you two use to be an item and she was most likely still smarting from that."

The father makes a mental note to talk to his son about his loose lips before he answers, "Yeah, briefly. Alexandria was overrun, Carl got shot and I blindly went on a rampage. Daryl joined me, then Sasha, Tara, Gabriel, Glenn and the rest of Alexandrians. I was hurting. She offered comfort and I unwisely allowed it."

"You have a bad habit of doing that." The question on his face asks her to elaborate and she does, "First with me at L4y-"

"No!" Rick cuts her off coming to stand in front of Michonne locking onto her molten brown spheres, "That was different. This… this is different."

She smiles, nodding before she echoes, "This is different."

Holding her eyes against his, he closes the space between them. His stare drops to her lips and his mind blanks with the desire to kiss her. Moving closer to do just that Michonne sidesteps him and moves around the office space.

"Was Andrea at least good to Andre?"

"She tried harder than anyone but Dre is not a major fan of hers. Neither is Carl or Judith and Judith likes everyone.

"Even Judith? That should have been clue," Michonne says breaking out into a loud laugh. Even though he has heard her laugh before, her laugh still takes him by surprise. A soft musically melody of joy and pleasure which caresses his ear and causes his heart to flutter with its own joy. Rick wants to hear it repeatedly. "Somehow, I am not surprised."

The duo searches the cubicles of the office, opening desks' drawers and cabinets. They stuff their bags with anything that can be of use which is not much within the office settling. At one particular cabinet Michonne finds highlighters and markers, she stuffs them in her bag as she does so she catches Rick's eyes.

"For Andre and Judith to color and draw."

He gives her a gentle smile as he continues to scavenge stealing glances of Michonne every so often. She's beautiful. She's exquisite. Her lock sway against her shoulders. Her skin looks rich and inviting. Her eyes full of light and hope. Her lips tantalizing and soft. His mind goes to the picture on the fridge that Dre drew of them as a family, his smile widens at the thought. A family, _his family_. Within the same cabinet Michonne finds steno-pads and paper for the kids as well as a several packages of unopened batteries. She stuffs the items in her bag before making her way towards Rick.

"Negan?"

Rick peaks at her from the side of his eyes, pretending to focus at his tasks all while hoping he sounds nonchalant.

"How long have you been holding onto that question?" Michonne asks with a giggle. Her laugh. Her giggle. His heart sings with joy at the sound.

"A while," He replies with his own chuckle, answering with complete honesty, "Since Spencer mention he saw you with him. He saw him kissing you."

"Are you jealous Rick Grimes?" She asks with a playful smile.

"Do I need to be?"

"You can't answer a question with a question, Rick Grimes."

"Asks the question again," Rick says moving towards Michonne as she backs away from him with coy steps. Her eyes twinkles with mischief and a warm smile caresses her lips.

"Are you jealous Rick Grimes?"

"Yes."

XxXx00000xXxX

Her smile widens for a brief second before it falls from her lips completely. Michonne knows better than to be flirting with Rick. She knows better than to tease him but the racing of her heart and the thrumming at the apex of her thighs can't be ignored. She holds his blue eyes and answer as honestly as he has.

"I never slept with Negan. A few make-out session and heavy petting but nothing more."

"Good," Rick replies. He takes another step towards her and Michonne back peddles at his approach, "I really didn't need another reason to kill him."

The candor burning in his eyes is not comical but Michonne still laughs. As her laughter fades a smile plays at the corner of his lips. His tongue darts out over his bottom lip as he slightly tilts his head to the side, Michonne tracks the movement with a hooded gaze.

"Is it because of Woodbury?" He asks almost timidly.

"Maybe at first… but no, I couldn't bring myself to give that part of me to him."

Rick nods and takes another step towards her, closing the distance between them. He lifts his hand and caress her cheeks as he does a flash of heat shoots through her body and settles firmly in between her thighs.

"We should go," Michonne says sidestepping Rick again. She gets a full step away before he reaches out and grab hold of her bag. He pulls her back towards him, spinning her around until she's chest to chest with him.

Rick pauses for four full seconds, Michonne counts them, before his lips presses against hers. He hesitates for a moment before he gathers her in his strong arms and deepens the kiss. Michonne hesitates as well, she knows it is too soon. They just reconciled. They are still strangers to one another but none of that matters as she feels his tongue sweep against her lips, asking for permission to gain entry into her mouth.

A hunger burns low in her belly, a fire starts to light between her legs. Michonne parts her mouth and her tongue greets his with earnest. His hands are on her shoulders, he removes the bag from her and it falls to the grounds with a loud thud. He does the same to his own then he lifts Michonne up onto him. Her legs wrap around his waist as her hand sink into his soft damp hair. Rick takes several steps forward and Michonne feels the wall press against her back.

Michonne's brain tries to reason with her wanton body and racing heart but all her commonsense flees her mind. She kisses him fiercely as the feeling of rightness and unadulterated need pumps in her veins. One of Rick's hand squeezes her ass and she feels her sex flex with desire, she grinds her center against his belly as she pulls him even closer. Rick breaks their tantalizing kiss, dropping his lips to her ears then her neck, licking and kissing the flesh all the while squeezing her ass and pushing her simultaneously into him and against the wall.

A loud moan escapes her lips as Rick sucks on a particular spot behind her left ear. She feels her toes curl in her boots as Rick moves away from the wall. Her eyes peel open when he steps into a nearby office. The room spins with hot white desire but Michonne still has presence of mind to kick the shut the door with her leg.

His lips fall against hers again, one capable arm holds her firmly against him while the other knocks any items on the desk off clearing the space for them. He gives her ass a final squeeze before he settles her on the desk, a hand moves to cradle the back of her head pressing into her. His other hand drops to her waist and crawls up underneath her shirt.

"Yesss," Michonne cries out against his lips feeling his rough hand palm on her waist. He releases her head and both hand make quick work of removing her sword, vest, tank-top, and bra. When she's topless Rick's needy mouth descends on her breast. He licks, sucks, and bites one while squeezing and caressing the other before he alternates.

Michonne cries out her pleasure grinding her saturated center against him. His mouth returns to hers as his hands drops to her jean. Nimble fingers quickly undoes her belts and jeans, he then starts to trail hot wet kisses down her neck, onto her chest, breast, stomach all while pulling her jeans off. She knows his intention but she doesn't want that, at least not yet.

Right now, Michonne wants to be fill with Rick's hard dick. Lacing her hand into his hair, she tugs on his hair to capture his attention. Lust glaze cerulean eyes stare up at her fill with confusion.

"Later," She murmurs.

"Later?"

She nods, "Later, now I need you inside of me."

Rick bolts straight up, Michonne immediately starts to work on his belt and jeans. He steps away from her fumbling fingers, pulling off her boots and removing her skintight jeans. His gun belt drops to the floor with a heavy thump. He then quickly undo his jeans before dropping it to his ankle. Michonne moans at the sight of Rick's harden manhood, already dripping with pre-cum. He strokes himself, covering his harden length with his own lubrication. She feels her own arousal drip between her engorge lips, down her ass cheeks, and onto the desks. Rick grabs her leg and pulls her to the edge of the desk, parting her legs wider and settling in-between them.

She closes her eyes and feels the hard tip of his dick softly rubbing against her aching center; a faded memory flashes across her close eye lids and Michonne stiffens. Her eyes snaps open and she knows Rick sees the fear the jolts through her. He trembles from his need and desires yet he wait for her.

"Are you okay?" He asks his voice quivers with his own need. She can see him slowly battling his own lust, trying to reign in his need for her not wanting to do anything she's not comfortable with. "We- we don't- don't have to do this."

Michonne feels her heart bloom for him, the desire rushing back to her tenfold clearing any fear and memories. She knows deep within the depth of her heart this man will not hurt her, still she pushes him away and his face sinks with saddness but he nods in understanding.

Hopping off the desk, she wants to laugh at the heart wrenching pout on Rick's face but she refrains as she turns and reaches out for him.

"Lay down," She instructs.

"We don-"

"Rick, lay down."

A giggle escapes her lips at the comical look of his face lightening up once her intention is known. Rick lays down on the desk and Michonne quickly straddles him. He leans up, catches her cheek and pulls her face down. The kiss reignites the frenzy passion, his tongue dances against hers: pulling, dipping, and swaying. Michonne moans against his lips; she reaches out for his hard-throbbing cock, moaning louder at the feel of him thick and heavy in her hand. Breaking away from the kiss, Michonne lifts her hips then brings him to her wet pulsating pussy and slowly descends upon him.

"Mmmmm!" Michonne moans loudly while Rick groans his delight as he slips into her taut clove. Once he's fully inside her he remains perfectly still, his hands framing and digging into the flesh of her hips. She can feel him trembling below her, fighting his own desires to take her yet he doesn't move knowing she needs to set the pace of their love making. Her heart thumps in her throat at his resolve to allow her this moment, to allow her to conquer this part of past and herself.

Once accustom to his girth and length, Michonne circles her hips against him causing Rick to sharply inhale and his fingers to dig deeper into her flesh. She lifts her hips pulling off of him before sliding down again allowing him to fill her completely.

"Riiiicccck," She moans. Michonne repeats the play of her hips, round and round then up and down. Her play picks up sped and Rick joins with measure thrusts of his own. Every sensation is amplify. The feeling of Rick's thick and long dick filling her beyond capacity, the feel of him stroking her walls, and the fire coursing in her veins.

"Open your eyes," Rick requests.

It's a struggle but Michonne complies. Her eyes flutters open and immediately she falls into the salacious ocean of his gaze; Rick reaches up and pulls her down, they exchange a sloppy kiss. The dance of tongue against tongue turning into a frantic battle of passion and desire. Michonne nips Rick's bottom lip before she breaks away from his mouth. One hand press down against his chest, the other hoist her up while resting on his thigh.

"OH GODDD!" Michonne cries out when she feels Rick's hand circling her delicate nub of nerves. The play of her hips shifts and becomes a battle of need and lust. Heavy with pleasure and overcome with every sensation of the covetousness delight Michonne head lolls back and her eyes fall closes.

"Open! Your! Eyes!" Rick demands punctuating each word with a thrust of his hips. Her eyes snaps open, her mouth gape as she pants and moans. "I want to see you."

Falling forward her hands move to frame the side of his head, she takes control of her pleasure riding Rick hard. Her hips move in quick frantic session. Her breast bounce in a lewd fashion as the room fill with the sound of their skin slapping against each other. Michonne can't remember Rick feeling this amazing before or him filling her up exquisitely. He feels perfect.

She rides his hard cock almost violently and he pistons from below her with equal fervor, encouraging her with his hooded azure stare to take her pleasure. To take what she needs from him. To take back a part of her she thought she lost.

Their eyes remain open as they watch each other pleasure unfold while their passionate war dance of frantic thrusts and hips roll grows with a licentious frenzy. Rick lifts his head and takes a bouncing breast in his mouth, he sucks, licks and bites the flesh then repeats the action with the breast causing Michonne to call out his name repeatedly.

"Riccckkk. Ricccckkk. Riiiicccckk."

His hands rovers over her body. On her clit. Squeezing her ass. Pulling her down to captures her lips in sloppy wet kisses. He bites her shoulder. Sucks on her neck. Caresses her thighs. Michonne feels him all over. He thrust from below her deep hitting a delicate spot causing her to sing. Her slick walls squeezes his thickly powerful manhood. She rides him harder, jolts of fire coursing in her veins. She rides him faster, nerves snaps with electric bliss.

"Michonne… I- I'm going to… come," Rick pants out, one hand dropping back to her nub, he applies more pressure as he rubs the bundle sparking the start of her orgasm.

"Metoo! Justjustalittlebitmore!" Her words come out a long moan.

Michonne chases her lost sensuality with her hips cruelly rocking back and forth. Her thighs strains and quivers as they lift and drops her down onto him. Soon she's starts to tremble and frantically grinds against him.

His voice is heavy and strain. She loves the sounds of her name coming from his lips, "Michonne!"

"Yes. Yes. Yesssssssssss." She calls out as she continues to hammer down upon him. His thrust becomes erratic and he dives deeply within her. She feels his cock jerk deep within her cunny and as she feels the splash of his seed against her inner wall. Michonne's own orgasm overwhelms her. Her back arches and she throws her head back as she roars her delightful release. She goes stiff for a full moment before her body quivers as an unparalleled ecstasy rips through her. She gushes her release around Rick's cock as they both are suspended in a blissful splendor.

Another fifteen minutes passes before they are able to feel their limbs again. When they do, they clean themselves up and get dress.

"I'm sorry I came in you… I uhh.. I didn't mean to."

Michonne absently shrugs then nods, "It's okay. I'm fairly sure it is safe."

Rick nods before he takes a moment to softly kiss Michonne, his tongue sweeps into her mouth briefly before he pulls away and pecks her lips with his own. He opens the office doors slowly making sure there's no surprises waiting for them, he then glance back at Michonne to see a smirk on her face.

"What?"

"Just thinking what are the chances at making another Andre or an Adrienne," Michonne says giggling feeling ecstatic.

Rick joins in, chuckling himself as he jests "Andre and Judith did want a baby sister."

* * *

 **A/N: *Inhales deeply. Holds breath for ten seconds... exhale***

 **Y'all... I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I really hope you all enjoyed reading it. I have to confess my favorite part was writing that Andrea POV scene. Ugh... like hoe you about to die and you still... nevermind. Also, MICHONNE! Why didn't you let that hoe die? WHY? Hahaha. I love writing the Carl part too. I don't know but this chapter was just fun for me. I had a blast and good news, I'm about halfway done with the next chapter! Soooo hopefully, the wait will not be too long.**

 **So now Rick and Michonne are kind of on the same page!** **YYAAAYYYY!** **And that Richonne smut! I will admit, it was hard to do this one because of Michonne's past history but I think it went okay. I'm just liking how open and honest they are with each other and we will get more of that in the next chapter.**

 **Next Chapter: We find out about that sneaky pregnancy test and what was Holly and Andrea's plan.**

 **As always, THANK YOU for reading, commenting, following, and being with me on this journey! It means so much to me that 19 chapters later, y'all are still with me! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!**

 **Until next time.**

 **-fi-**

Oh and P.S. Check out the song Garden by Emeli Sande... you will not regret it.


	20. Chapter 20

**Discovering L4yers**

 _Stop smiling._ He inwardly abolishes himself.

The smile falls from his lips only to return seconds later when he catches Michonne's sparkling brown eyes. A smile whispers across her lips before she turns away from him and focuses on her tasks. He has been unable to keep the smile from his mouth since the moment they stepped out the office. As they finish their search of the office they exchanged smiles, gentle touches, and kisses like love sick teenagers.

When they return to join the others, the duo tries to act as if nothing happened, but it is difficult. Rick keeps smiling at the recent memory of their love making and at the beauty that is Michonne. Michonne has a better poker face then he does but every so often when they catch each other's eyes a coy smile spreads across her full lips, lips he wants to consume against his own.

The process to load the working truck they found along with the two vehicles they drove with supplies and food from the warehouse takes well over two hours. Holly and Carl arrived over an hour before and quickly started to help. Rick is thankful that Abraham is somehow able to get a couple of pallet jacks to work otherwise the process will have been slower.

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"You seem distracted," Rick notices Carl's somber mood when he and Holly first arrived at the warehouse. Like the others, Carl mood lifts at the sight of the supplies and food within the walls of the building but he is too quiet for Rick's comfort. "Did something happen out there with Holly?"

Carl looks at his father and tilts his head in the same manner that Rick catches himself doing, "Can we talk about it when we get home?"

Rick agrees then asks, "Are you okay riding with Andrea and Spencer?" The teenager looks over to the duo in question, his face flex in a state of uneasy. "I want the privacy and time to talk to Michonne but if you're not –"

"WE'RE DONE HERE! LET'S HAUL ASS!" Abraham yells cutting him off.

"I'll be fine, Dad," Carl says before Rick has a chance to finish.

"Are you sure?"

"Yea, Enid and I will be fine."

The two Grimes men exchange a curt nod before moving towards their respective vehicles. Abraham drives the truck fill with food with Holly. Spencer drives the SUV with Andrea riding shotgun, Rick watches as Carl climbs into the back seat alongside Enid.

"Is he okay?" Michonne asks slipping into the passenger side with Rick doing the same behind the wheel of the car.

"I think something happened out there with Holly."

"I saw her and Andrea talking earlier before she left with Carl."

"I'll find out what happened," Rick says turning the ignition.

"Rick," Michonne starts, she waits for him to turn his eyes onto hers before she continues, "I told Andrea I will kill her if she comes after me and mines. I know Abraham is a friend but I will kill Holly if need be. Spencer too."

He doesn't fight the smile that crosses his lips. He knows she serious but the thought of Michonne already claiming his other kids as her own fills him with pure joy.

"Me and mines?" He repeats.

"When I saw Carl the first time- there was something familiar about him. I didn't know exactly what until I saw you two together. Even before I knew he was your son I had an overwhelming desire to protect him. Knowing everything that I know now, that feeling has only double- tripled. So yes… me and mines."

Rick's only appropriate response is to lean over and capture Michonne's lips with his own. She quickly melts into his embrace; her mouth opens and her tongue eagerly greets his own. Rick wants her again. Right there in the car. The way Michonne eagerly returns his kiss, Rick knows she will not deny him but commonsense rears its ugly head. His tongue sweeps inside her mouth one last time before he pulls away from her.

"Come on, let's go home."

XxXx00000xXxX

Effortless.

Three days ago, when she thought of the word to describe being in Rick's presence and talking to him, it agitated her. It caused her discomfort. It scared her to her core. Now, she rejoices in it even though a part of her still is frighten; she can't deny the feeling of aptness, a divine rightness that dwells between them. It is as if they were destined to always find their way to each other.

Effortlessly the two falls into conversation. The melody of their words syncing them into one harmony. The verbal and nonverbal an effortless flow that unites their past lives and experience. Rick reaches over and caresses her knees before she captures his hand, interlocking her fingers with his like old lovers. They remain connected as he navigates the road back to Alexandria. The road back home.

A comfortable silence fills the space between them for a moment before Michonne speaks again.

"Her."

"Lori."

"Lori," Michonne repeats.

"I think she knew."

"Knew what?"

"When we reconciled, while we went to counseling, I told her I met a woman. I told her about you. I told her the entire truth that I wanted you, that I looked for you."

Her heart continues to melt for him, he told his wife about her. He told his wife that he looked for her. Adoration fills her lungs for him, she adores his honesty and truths.

"She had a right to know. She deserved to know the truth that I wasn't the same man as before."

"She forgave you?"

"She tried. She forgave me for sleeping with another woman. She didn't forgive me for falling in love with her. She resented me for a long time and I understood why. I fell in love with this amazing woman after one night. A woman who became a living ghost haunting our marriage. A ghost who I refused to truly exorcise. I tried but I could never fully let you go."

"You make me sounds like a demon," Michonne says with a chuckle.

He joins her, his chest rumbling with his own laugh. He takes their join hands and brings it to his lips then kisses the back of her hand, "You're an angel."

"You stayed with her. She stayed with you."

"We tried to make it work, we had Carl to think about. We made it work for a long time, but things didn't last. Before the Turn, before the world fell apart we started to fall apart again, worse than before. I knew it was going to be the end of us but I got shot and then I woke up to this world."

"It put things into perspective."

"It was a band-aid over a gaping wound."

Michonne listens as Rick gives a quick history about Shane, his best friend, and wife's brief relationship. Her right hand covers their interlock fingers and squeezes his hand as he speaks. She notes there is no lingering anger, he has made his peace with the illicit relationship, both of their deaths, and the unknown paternity of his youngest. That news surprises her but she can hear the love for his daughter in each word he speaks. She has seen the love of his daughter first hand and would never have guess that he possibly wasn't her biological father. This new knowledge waters the roots of her continually growing feelings for him.

"I think she knew," He states again, "I think she knew Andre was my son before I even thought it was a possibility."

"A woman's intuition," Michonne says with a chuckle, "Was she good to him?"

"She tired," Rick replies honestly. He glances at her and gives her a sad smile, "She was nice but kept Dre at a distance. I think it was her way of protecting him from her own spite and anger. She tired."

"When did you take off her mark?" She asks pointing to his bare left hand. He follows her gaze then flexes his hand around the steering wheel.

"Three months after the farm fell. She asked me why did Andre look like Carl when he was that age? Why he had my eyes? It was probably one of the last time we truly talked. I took the ring off after the conversation."

Michonne only nods in response and squeezes his hand with hers. They allow the silence to return, each lost in their own thoughts for several miles before Rick speaks again, "I want to tell Andre. I want him to know I'm his father."

"Okay."

Michonne can feel his eyes on her, when she turns to him she takes in the surprise look on his face.

"I thought I would have to convince you."

She smiles and squeezes his hand again, "He has a right to know. We can do it together at bedtime."

Rick nods, "Okay. I want to tell Carl too."

She figures he will want to, she replies with a nod then adds, "Okay. Do you want me to tell him with you?"

"I want to talk to him one on one first."

Michonne agrees, knowing it will be best for father and son to talk in private first. "And the others?"

"I want to keep the news strictly to our family; I'll let the others know in due time."

A flutter strums in her heart at the use of his words: _our family_.

Effortless. Aptness. Destine.

XxXx00000xXxX

Hope.

Rick feels hopeful and excited about their possibility. His heart swells with love and adoration for the woman besides him. The woman with her fingers intertwine with his during the entire car ride. He wants to build on their possibility. He wants to build a future with her and their family. He smiles thinking of the 'later' she mentioned earlier. He plans to make the most of 'later'.

A three-hour drive is not enough to cover seven years, but Rick is happy with the flow of conversation; he is happy that Michonne is openly talking to him and sharing with him, a complete change to the woman from three days ago. He knows in part it has to do with the bond they share with Andre, but Rick also knows that even without that bond they would have reached the same destination, it just would have taken longer.

As they near Alexandria the conversation between them slows, they cover a lot of ground, but they are both aware that more needs to be discuss. There is one question continuously pressing against Rick's tongue, but he has keeps it at bay, sensing Michonne may shut down once it is asked.

Unable to hold back the question any longer, Rick quietly asks, "Are you going to leave? Are you going to take Dre away from me?"

She's quiet for a long moment, Rick worries that she didn't hear him but he knows she did by the tightening of her hand around his.

In a voice, quieter than his but fill with candor she answers: "No. I can't do that to Dre."

Dre, he smiles. It is the first time she has called him by his nickname.

"I can't do that to you. I can't do that to Carl, Judith, Maggie, Glenn and all those who he loves and who loves him. I can't do that to myself. So no, I am not going to take Dre away from you, away from his family."

Rick glances at her, still astonish with her beauty and grateful for her decision. A peace rushes in his chest and lifts a weight from his shoulder he didn't know was there. He releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"I'm worried about Negan. If… if he finds out I have a child… with you… Rick, he will-"

"I know."

"I can't lose Dre or you, not when I just found you both again."

"And Negan? Will you fight us against Negan?"

"I am with you."

It is the only answer he needs from her. Rick slows the car to a stop, he turns to face Michonne and pulls his hand away from their interlace hold. He frames her face within the palms of his hands taking in her mesmerizing brown orbs. He caresses her cheeks as she nods. Covering his hands with her own Michonne turns her head first to the left then the right and kissing the palm of each of his hand.

XxXx00000xXxX

Rick and Michonne are the last to pull into Alexandria, by the time they do the street is buzz with excitement as people gather around the truck filled with supplies and food. Rick stops the car and slips out, instructing an anxious Michonne to go home to see their kids. She quickly complies slipping into his empty sit and driving the short distance home.

"Looks like Chonne was telling the truth 'bout that warehouse huh?" Daryl asks sidling up to Rick. He catches Daryl's nickname for Michonne, Rick smirks at how easily she fits in with his friends and family, as if she was always meant to be part of their group.

"Yeah, she was. There is a lot more where this came from. This is not even a drop in the bucket."

"We gonna go back for more?"

Scratching his beard, he nods at his friend, "Yeah but not right away, we need to handle thangs with Negan and the Saviors first. We will need to make an inventory of the items at the warehouse and pass on the word to Hilltop and the Kingdom."

"This is amazing!" Sasha says gliding up to Daryl and Rick.

"How have thangs been here?"

The archer and the sharp-shooter exchange a quick glance but neither reply. Rick releases a sigh then nods his head in understanding.

"Y'all?" Daryl asks.

"Walkers mostly but we'll catch up later," Rick states. The two warriors' nods knowing it is not the place to have the conversation, "Tell everyone to take what they need for the week but leave everything else inside the truck."

Daryl and Sasha fall out to give directions to the other, Rick turns away from the large forming group and starts toward his home also anxious to be with his family. While making his way home, Carol calls out his name and runs up to him. She looks frantic, her eyes darting around their surroundings.

"What's up? What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Yeah?"

"Carol."

Rick watches as Carol jolts several feet up at the sound of her name being called by a familiar voice. He glances over the woman's head to watch Andrea walk towards them. His eyes fall back to Carol and watches as she rearranges her frantic features and turns to the approaching woman.

"Hey!"

"Hey," Andrea say, her eyes darting from a confuse looking Rick to a blank face Carol.

"I'll catch up with you later," Carol says with a force smile before leaving Rick to join Andrea.

The hair on his arms stand at attention and his ears ring with alarm as he watches the two women leave. He makes a mental note to speak to Carol knowing whatever she was going to tell him is of high importance.

Arriving home Rick finds Michonne kissing and hugging upon Dre and Judith as she doles out her finds for them. The two soaks in her adoration and excitedly take their gifts from her. It is when she pulls out fruit snack packets that truly gets Dre excited. He whoops and holler in glee at the sight of the sweet treats, Judith not knowing what it is mimics her brother.

Rick joins Michonne and the younger kids as she opens the packets for each child. Judith looks at the sticky colorful treat curiously, it is not until she puts it into her mouth that she understands Dre's excitement.

"Ummmmy Mama!" She calls out as she does her own dance alongside Dre.

Rick steals one sweet treat from Michonne's own packet quickly popping it into his mouth.

"Hey!" She calls out, a sweet smile stretching her lips. He takes his chance and steal a quick kiss from her upturn mouth.

"Hey," She calls out softly with desire swimming in her dark eyes.

He wants to steal another kiss but Judith jumps onto Michonne's lap, demanding her attention wanting more of the sweet treat with Dre echoing his sister demands.

"No more but after dinner I have a special treat for you."

"What Mama?"

"Pudding!" Michonne says showing them the package of chocolate pudding.

Dre leaps up and pumps his fist in the air shouting, "Pudding."

Judith stands on Michonne's lap and copies Dre yelling out, "Uuhdin'."

Rick's eyes find Michonne, at the sight of her and the sound of his children's excitement his heart buzz with anticipation of all their possibilities and love.

XxXx00000xXxX

A world of problems eagerly awaits him, but Rick takes the evening to spend with his family. They enjoy a meal of sweet hot water cornbread, hot chili made with deer meat, and green beans. The table is fill with lively conversation mostly narrated by Dre and Judith. Laughter and warmth fills the Grimes home, even Carl's girlfriend Enid, normally shy, roars with laughter and delight.

After dinner, chocolate pudding is eaten in the living room while watching an old DVD of Lilo and Stitch. Surprisingly, Dre cuddles into Rick's side as Judith falls asleep thirty minutes into the movie snuggle in Michonne's arm. Enid lays her head-on Carl's shoulder as the they all laugh and watch the child movie with a new perspective.

When the movie is over Carl leaves to walk Enid home while Michonne takes the younger children upstairs to get them ready for bed, promising to come get Rick before putting Dre down. Like the previous night, Rick moves to the kitchen to straighten up and wash dishes. Carl joins him shortly and the two men move silently cleaning the kitchen and putting away leftovers.

The father internally debates how he should approach the truth that Dre is his son to his eldest not knowing how much information he should tell his son. He moves to speak several times but says nothing until finally he blurts out:

"Dre is your brother."

Rick watches as Carl shrugs his shoulder, "I know."

"Carl," he calls for the younger Grimes' attention. Carl stops drying the dish in his hand to look at his father, "Andre is your brother. He is my son."

Carl stares at him tilting his head in confusion.

"Michonne and I… we knew each other before."

The confusion deepens but Rick can tell Carl is processing the information.

"Your mom and I were separated. I met Michonne and we…uhh… we had sex," He feels his face turning red, "We lost contact. I-"

"When mom tried to kill herself?"

Rick nods, "It was the night before when I met Michonne."

"But… but you didn't… have you always known Dre was your kid?"

"No. I guessed when Michonne and Dre were reunited but- but she confirmed it."

"You didn't know she was pregnant?"

"No. We lost contact."

"Is she the woman mom said you were in love with?"

"Carl-"

"I am not a little kid anymore dad. I haven't been a little kid for a long time. I used to hear you and mom fight. You guys tried to hide it from me. You guys tried to pretend everything was okay, but it made it worse. The pretending. I know you guys stayed together for me but- sometimes I wish you all didn't. The whispered arguments were worse than the loud ones. I heard mom talk about her… the woman. Is Michonne her?"

"Yes."

Carl puts down the dish he's been holding; he drops his head, his chin almost touching his chest as he continues to process the information Rick is giving him. They're quiet for a long moment. Neither men speaking, Carl working through the news while Rick waits for his son to come to terms with the news.

"You didn't know Dre was your kid?"

"I thought he might be but I was never sure."

"How… how come you- you didn't know?"

"I didn't know Michonne was pregnant."

"She didn't tell you?"

"At first she couldn't. The only chance she did get – she didn't say anything. She thought she was going to destroy our family."

"But you and mom weren't happy."

"Sometimes we were."

"If you loved her so much why didn't you go to her? Why wait all these years?"

"I didn't know her name," He replies honestly, he can feel his face burning red as Carl's face light up with understanding.

"What? Wait…you had sex with her but didn't know her name?" Carl asks flabbergasted.

"Yes. Adult…. We don't always use our commonsense."

"I can see that," Carl quips.

Carl shakes his head as if trying to clear and organize his thoughts. He closes his eye and pinch the bridge of his nose. Rick chuckles silently as Carl mimics the jester Rick does himself.

"It makes sense."

"What?"

"How easily she fits in with our family, like she has always been a part of it and somehow she has."

"Yeah, it does make sense."

The young man returns to drying dishes and Rick returns to rinsing and handing them to his son. They work in silences for several minutes before Carl asks, "Is she staying?"

"Yes."

He gives one nod, "Good."

"You're okay with her staying?"

"That means she's not going to try to take Dre away and- and you seem happier in the last few days since she been here. We never had a night like tonight before at least not for a very long time when you and mom were still okay. It's been a long time since I've seen you smile and laugh like you did tonight, so yeah… good."

"Good."

The Grimes men finish the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, Rick takes out the trash while Carl sweeps the floor. When Rick returns, the kitchen is spotless and Carl finishes putting up the broom and dustpan. He's happy the conversation with Carl went well. He expected more resistant from the youth but Carl is perspective and understanding. He is mature beyond his youthful age would imply. He knows Carl will still be cautious regarding his and Michonne growing relationship but at least the young man is open to the idea.

Rick smiles thinking about his family; Carl, Judith, Andre and Michonne; his smile widens as he recalls his and Michonne earlier interactions, he's excited to continue their play from earlier. They will have to be more careful or Dre's picture will become a reality sooner rather than later; he glances at the fridge door thinking of the picture Dre drew of his family but the spot is empty of where the picture should be.

"Carl?"

"Yea Dad?"

"Where's the picture Dre drew?"

Carl glances at the fridge then shrugs his shoulders, "I thought I saw it this morning."

"Hmmph," Rick nods. He leaves the kitchen making his way to the living room to straighten up.

"Michonne, have you seen the picture from the…," Rick trails off as he enters the room when his eyes fall upon Michonne's ass swaying up in the air as she's bent over the couch. Blood rushes to his lower region, her words 'later' coming to mind. He wants to take her in that position, with her bent over yelling out his name in pleasure; he reminds himself Carl is in the other room and it is not quite time for their 'later'.

Startle she jolts straight up and turns to face Rick, he smiles lovingly at her, she immediately softens and returns his smile, "Hey."

His voice drops an octave deeper, "Hey."

"What were you saying?"

"Dre's picture from the fridge, have you seen it?"

Her eyebrows knit as she thinks over his question, "I saw it this morning."

"He probably wanted to add more to it."

"Maybe," Michonne says.

"Is he still up?"

"You're going to tell Dre?" Carl asks sleuthing into the room coming to stand beside his father.

"Yes." Both adult replies in unison.

"But he's already asleep. Five minutes after I put him into bed he was gone to dreamland," Michonne adds.

Rick chuckles and only shakes his head slightly, "He must have had a long day. We'll tell him in the morning."

"Okay," Michonne agrees before turning her attention to Carl who stares at her with a new light of understanding blazing in his eyes. She takes a step towards Carl keeping steady eye contact with him, "So, your dad told you?

"Yes."

"I know it is a lot to take in. If you have any questions for me, don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't."

"Good," Michonne says with a smirk.

Rick watches as Carl smirks as well with a wordless understanding passing between them, he repeats, "Good."

Michonne returns to her previous state bending over the couch, Rick minds goes blank taking in the sight of her lush rotund ass in the air. He almost tells Carl to go to his room, so he can 'talk' to Michonne but the young man speaks first.

"What are you looking for?"

"My headband," She answers standing up straight again, "I thought it was in my bag or that Dre and Judith may have taken it to play with but I can't find it."

"Colorful pattern with blue, purple, and orange?" Carl asks.

"Yes, have you seen it?"

Carl's face flex with distraught and his eye widens in panic causing Rick to move towards him.

"Carl?"

"Yeah, I've seen it," He starts looking from his father to Michonne then back to his father, "I've seen it on Holly's wrist."

"What?" Michonne says with disbelief.

"I noticed it when she was driving- when we were back tracking today after the bridge- it was on her wrist."

Carl goes on to tell Rick and Michonne about his trip with Holly, how the woman talked him into surveillance the Savoir outpost. He thought it was a clever idea and therefore went along with the plan. He should have known better but he wasn't thinking clearly, not thinking the woman had an alternative motive.

"I don't know where she went; where she disappeared to, but she was gone for about ten minutes. We butted heads when she suggested we attack the outpost, but I think she was saying that as cover for whatever she did. I never seen her wear anything like that before, when I noticed it wasn't on her wrist I asked her. She blew me off, saying it must have dropped somewhere and not to worry."

Rick soaks up the information, thoughts madly churning in his head.

"Fuck!" Michonne whispers. She collapses on the couch and drops her head into her hand.

"I'm sorry Michonne, I didn't realize she was planning anything. I- I'm sorry."

She raises her head and waves off Carl's apology, "It is not your fault. You didn't know."

"Yeah, maybe but I could have said no- I could have-"

"She would have found another way," Rick assures Carl, "You said she was gone for ten minutes, it is not enough time to go and speak to one of the guards."

Michonne moves back onto her feet and faces the two Grimes men, "No, she would have been caught and taken captive, but it is plenty of time to leave a message."

"Less risk of getting caught, leave a message for them to find."

"Then she used attacking the outpost as a cover up."

"How long do you think we have until they find the message?" Rick asks.

Michonne shrugs causing Carl to answer, "The guards there seem lazy, a couple were even asleep. Depending on where Holly put the message and how often they walk the parameter it could be a day maybe even two."

"That's Simon's outpost."

"Who's Simon?"

"He used to be Negan's right-hand man, he lost his position and was sent to that outpost. As soon as the message is found, Simon will not waste any time getting it to Negan."

"How long does that give us?"

"I've gone off before, for days sometimes a week or two at a time and Negan knows I always come back but I was very upset the day I followed Dwight. He might be worried which will cause him to start a search, if he has even the smallest inclination that I am here then he will mobilize all the Saviors he can and be here in a day or two depending on when the message is found."

"Fuck!" Rick snaps, "Fuck!"

"Why would Holly do this?" Carl asks.

"This wasn't Holly's idea, it was Andrea. She never agreed with my plan to wait to attack the Saviors. She did this to force my hand, if Negan arrives with his army it will accelerate our plans to fight."

"So, what do we now?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hi y'all sorry this took so long to update. I am so sorry. I'm on a time crunch so I can't update all the details of why but thank you for sticking with me. I appreciate it. I appreciate all the encouragement and support. I appreciate you all taking the time reading and commenting. Thank you for it. It means more than you all know!**

 **Thank you!**

 **-fi-**


	21. Chapter 21

**Planning L4yers**

"What do we do now?" Daryl asks pacing the front alter of the church.

Rick finished telling the small group of Andrea's deceit and plan to get the Saviors to attack them. The small gather group erupts voicing their disbelief, anger, and suggestions. Daryl silences them when he asks the most important question, what is their next course of action.

"It makes sense, the campaigning," Sasha says leaning against the podium at the center of the alter, "I thought with Andrea and Spencer gone for the day it would be a quiet day, but Eric, Heath, and few other Alexandrian faithful have been campaigning against your plan to wait for a better opportunity. Stating Andrea's plan to attack while Negan and the Saviors are distracted is better and favor us with the element of surprise."

A red veil drops over his vision from the wrath boiling in his blood caused by the depths of Andrea's deceit. He trembles from the heat of his anger; he wants to leave the church go to Andrea's house and drag her out of her house. He wants to expose her lies. He wants people to see her true colors but most importantly he wants to kill her. His finger itches to take out his Colt, hunt Andrea down, and feed her a bullet. Rick closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, trying to reign in his anger. He recalls his conversation with Michonne and Carl remembering to stay the course. He also recalls Michonne's assurance of her earlier statement to kill Andrea.

"Maybe this is a good thing, we can fight the Saviors and get rid of them once and for all," Father Gabriel chimes in.

"We can act first and attack them!" Daryl growls moving toward a corner of the church.

"No! We don't have the manpower to fight Negan's army straight on. Our biggest advantage is the element of surprise."

"Will the still plan work?" Tara asks between chewing on her nail-beds.

"Not if Negan shows up tomorrow. We don't know when the Saviors will be arriving. The worst thing that can possibly happen is the Saviors running into our allies on their way here-"

"It will take away the element of surprise that we're not as outnumbered as they thought," Glenn finishes for Rick.

"What about Andrea? She knows the plan, she could betray us."

Maggie's words come out a low growl, "She already has."

"The woman is fuckin' crazy," Daryl mumbles from a dark corner.

"She has her reasons, I think we've waited long enough to take care of the Saviors," Rosita rebuts.

"Andrea thinks what she's doing is best for Alexandria, I don't think she's willing to risk the lives of all who live here," Father Gabriel comments searching the faces of the gather group.

"By luring the Saviors here she's putting everyone's life in danger," Carl speaks up. He stiffly sits beside Rick and listens to the debate for the plan of action in silence not adding to the conversation until now, "How many people know that the Saviors are most likely on their way here? How many Alexandrian are prepared for that? If she truly cared about the people of Alexandria, then she would have told them- told us about her plan so we could be prepared to trap the Saviors. Her plan could have worked for our benefit, but she didn't say anything, putting us in a worst situation than before."

Rick looks at his son with pride swimming in his eyes, he tries to push down the smile pressing against his lips. The others look at Carl with awe and pride as well, the maturity and wisdom from the young man surprising all in the dark church.

After a moment of silence Carl continues, "We all know Michonne is important to Negan, but I've seen how he respond to her and how he looks at her. I believe he's going to come with the full weight of his army. He will burn down Alexandria and kill anyone who stands in his way until he either finds Michonne or proof that she's not here."

"We can stick to the original plan. We hide Michonne off somewhere and convince Negan she's not here. He'll be distracted, and we can attack him then," Maggie declares with a finality.

"But we prepare to fight just in case he's not convinced," Rosita adds.

"We can't fight Negan and his army alone. We will need the Kingdom and Hilltop if we want a small chance of winning. I don't want to, but I think we need to wait," Sasha suggests. There's several groans and murmurs echoing in the church. "Andrea fucked us over, so this is the smartest move we have right now."

"She could sell us out to Negan to save her own skin," Tara comments.

"She wouldn't do that, everything that Andrea has done has been for the good of Alexandria. We've waited long enough," Rosita forcefully replies.

Carl groans loudly at Rosita's ignorance but doesn't speak.

Glenn shakes and says, "Andrea is serving her own self-interest."

"You're either with us or you're with Andrea, make your decision quick," Sasha says stalking towards the woman, glaring at her with dark threatening eyes. Rick catches the smirk of pride on Daryl's mouth as he slinks toward Rosita and Sasha.

The two women glare at each other until Father Gabriel steps in between them, "Ladies, please."

Rosita glares at Sasha before she looks around the dark space, "Why can't we tell the Alexandrian of what's going on? Why can't we prepare them now? We can radio Hilltop and The Kingdom and have them at the ready. Carl said something brilliant, we can set a trap for them."

Sasha is the first to shoot down the idea, "It will not work."

"It is not a bad idea," Tara says, "I think we should consider it."

"They will be expecting it. I don't know what message Holly left for them, but they will be expecting some sort of trap. I know I would," Carl replies.

"We don't have time to get everyone ready," Maggie adds diplomatically, "Not everyone here is a fighter or even able to fight."

"Then what the fuck do you all suggest we do? I don't hear anyone coming up with anything better!" Rosita laments as she starts to pace the alter as Daryl was doing before.

"The supplies found at the warehouse, we can pacify him by offering him some of it," Father Gabriel suggests looking around the dimly lit room.

"All of it."

All eyes land upon Rick. He feels the weight of their stares as he moves to stand.

"We give all of the warehouse findings to Negan and convince him we're still under his thumb."

"What about Michonne?" Maggie asks.

"She returns with Negan."

"Fuck!"

"She just found her son."

"Rick!"

"I don't like the plan, but it is the only one that will work."

"Rick!"

"If half of what we know about Negan's feeling towards Michonne is true, he will only be placated when he finds her. I don't like it, Michonne doesn't like but we both agree, she needs to return with Negan. He gets all the warehouse food and we get him out of Alexandria as quick as possible. This is how we survive to fight," Rick states looking around the sanctuary at each gather individual's face.

"And how do we fight?" Rosita asks coming to a stop near Rick.

"While he's here we take stock of their weapons and count their numbers. We observe and note anything that can be useful to us. When they leave, Michonne and Dwight will work within the walls of the Sanctuary and recruit allies, helping our numbers against Negan grow; Dwight already gave us the listing of all the outpost and lookouts, we will use that in a coordinated attack on Negan and the Saviors after three days. We will take the fight to him and finish this once and for all."

"The Kingdom and Hilltop? How do they fit in?"

"Hilltop will fight alongside Alexandria when we go to the Sanctuary. King Ezekiel and the Kingdom will take down key outposts and find the gun stashes. Michonne, Dwight, and any allies will fight from within their ranks."

"Maybe Andrea taunting Negan here is not a terrible thing," Father Gabriel chimes.

"That is yet to be determined."

"What about Holly and Andrea?" Sasha asks.

"They're with Eric, Spencer, Abraham, Heath and a few others at Eric's having dinner," Maggie replies.

"What if they are all with Andrea?"

"I don't think they all are; Spencer follows Andrea like a lost puppy and Holly is a zealot. She follows anyone who she thinks has a righteous cause. I think they are the only two who knows of Andrea's plan. Eric and Heath are warm bodies to Andrea, if they are on her side then more Alexandrian's will sway to her lead. Abraham can be reckless but he's a military man and without a well thought out plan he will not follow," Glenn observes.

"What do we do about them?"

"We need to lock Andrea away before she causes more harm," Carl adds.

"Not tonight, we don't know who's all with Andrea," Rick explains.

"She betrayed us."

"Right now, it is the word of a teenager versus two grown women. Holly who has stepped up in every way and Andrea has always been a pillar of the community. Rick is right, if we do something now it could split the people of Alexandria," Glenn comments.

Tara scoffs and shakes her head in disbelief, "I don't think-"

"Tara," Maggie interrupts her, "Glenn's right. A prime example is Rosita and Sasha, they were going at each other's throat minutes ago."

"Let's be clear, I don't agree with Andrea's tactics, but I don't think she's completely wrong," Rosita says plopping down on alter steps.

"I ain't saying you're Team Andrea, I'm saying that this will split Alexandria and we can't win a war against the Saviors when we're too busy fight amongst ourselves."

"I don't like this," Tara says returning to gnawing on her finger nails.

Father Gabriel moves to his friend's side and pats her shoulder, "I don't like it either."

"Andrea has worm her way into too many Alexandrian's heart, if we claim she betrayed us, we will need solid proof."

Murmurs of agreement fills the room, Rick silences the room saying, "Tara, you're friendly with Heath; I need you to invite yourself to this party and find out any useful information."

"Will do, boss," Tara says saluting Rick.

"Eric and I are friendly, I'll go to the party too," Maggie adds.

"I'll go with you," Glenn says.

"Glenn," Rick calls gaining the young man's attention, "I need you and Carl to help me with something."

"I was going to help Morgan, he is watching the house-"

Rosita interrupts Carl as she leaps to her feet declaring, "I'll take next watch."

"I'll help."

"We'll take turns watching Holly and Andrea," Sasha volunteers.

"Good," Rick nods and turns to Daryl, "I need you to get a message to Dwight."

XxXx00000xXxX

Michonne paces the living room waiting on Rick's return. Her mind races with thoughts of Negan and the Saviors impending arrival. She hopes that whatever message Holly left behind is not found for a couple of days allowing the Alexandrian to prepare to fight the Saviors. She's torn between worry and anger. A part of her worries about the safety of Andre's home, the people he loves and who loves him, and ultimately his safety. Michonne knows that Negan, if he finds out about Andre, he will use him to control her.

Her anger spouts from Andrea and the woman's reckless betrayal. A part of her regrets not allowing the woman to be bit by the dead when the chance was there. She shouldn't have saved the wretched woman but death by walkers would have been too good for ex-friend. Andrea needs to die by her hand, it is the only acceptable way for Andrea's life to end.

Her thoughts come to a stop as well as her pacing, her head snapping towards the door when she hears the light footsteps thread near. Anxious Michonne rushes to the door and swings it open, she expects to see Rick but instead she's greeted by a surprise Carol.

"Oh!"

"Hi."

Michonne and Carol says respectively.

"I thought you were Rick."

"He's not here?"

Michonne shakes her head, not sure how much she should tell the gray hair woman.

"Damn it."

She can feel her eyebrow raise slightly as frustration paints Carol's face in a shade of angry pink.

"He mentioned stopping by your place."

Carol looks over her shoulder in the direction of her home before returning her blue stare at Michonne.

"May I wait for him here?"

Michonne steps back and allow the woman inside. The two women make their way to the living room where they sit in an awkward silence. Michonne closely watches the woman as Carol's left knee bounces wildly.

"Are you okay?"

"No," Carol starts with a heavy sigh. Michonne is surprise when Carol continues, "I'm worried about a mutiny."

"Andrea."

At the sound of the woman's name Carol's head snaps up. Her eyes widening like saucers.

"What do you know?"

Michonne takes only a handful of seconds to contemplate whether to tell Carol the recent event that's unfolding caused by Andrea's hand. Remembering her conversation with Rick she knows Carol is a trusted friend and she goes on to tell her in detail about Andrea's treachery.

"Shit!" Carol exclaims now on her feet pacing the living room floor. Michonne watches as the news of Andrea's betrayal plays across Carol's face. She notes the anger reddening her face and the lack of surprise in her eyes. During Michonne's recounting Carol sat deadly still and listen to the various details of Andrea's lies and deceits.

"Rick is talking Daryl, Sasha, Glenn, Maggie, Tara and a few other about a new course of action."

"Do you really think Negan is going respond so quickly?"

"Yes."

The older woman's face folds in confusion, "What are you to him?"

"A solider and a friend."

"That's all?"

"He wants more but yes, that's all."

"He's going to war for a woman who's only one of his soldiers? A friend?" The woman says disbelief coating every word.

"A possession. He sees me as his, no matter the truth."

"Are you? Are you his?"

"No," Michonne says rising to her feet to stand eye level with the keen-eyes woman, "I am not Negan's. I am not Negan."

"I've seen the way Rick looks at you, I see the way you look at him. I know the connection you share because of Dre, I also know there's more. I didn't do a decent job protecting him before-"

Michonne interrupts her and asks, "Are you talking about Andrea?"

"There was something different about Andrea when we met her at Woodbury. I could never figure it out, but I know something was different about her. When the Governor returned, and the prison fell, her madness and anger seem to only get worse. I tried to, and I don't want to see him get hurt."

Michonne replies with an earnest candor burning her words, "I will not hurt him."

"Good, because if you do…" The woman doesn't finish her statement allowing the threat to hang between them.

Michonne smiles, already liking this woman, she asks, "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

Carol returns the smile with one of her own as a dark truth burns in her blue eyes, "Something like that."

The two warriors lock eyes and regard each other with a new-found respect. The opening and closing door breaks the quiet intense moment between the two. The sound of heavy boot steps give away the new arrival before he reaches the living. Michonne moves away from Carol and starts toward the living room entry way the same moment Rick appears.

"What did the other say? What is the new plan? Where is Andrea?" Carol fires off questions as Michonne reaches Rick's side.

"Carol," Rick replies in greeting before squeezing Michonne's shoulder and walking deeper into the living room.

"Rick! What is the plan? Have you reached out to The Kingdom and Hilltop? Are you arming the people of Alexandria? Where is Andrea? What are you going to do with her?"

Michonne meets Rick's questioning blue eyes, "Carol came looking for you. I've gave her an update of what's going on."

He nods in understanding before turning his attention to Carol, "You wanted to talk earlier but Andrea interrupted us."

"We need to get her and lock her in the jail cell," Carol says.

"Is that all you had to tell Rick?"

The woman's eyes flicker to Michonne before returning to Rick.

"We should speak alone."

In return Rick's shoulder tense and his hand inches to his hip where his colt rest. His eyes narrow as he tilts his head, "What's going on, Carol?"

The gray-haired woman doesn't answer, her eyes travel from one warrior to the other, Michonne can see her mind racing.

"You were not surprised."

Two sets of eyes travel to Michonne with confusion brimming their irises.

"When I told you what Andrea did, you were upset but not surprised."

Michonne's statement takes Carol aback. Her mouth forms an O, her eyes widen, and her eyebrows rise. Just as quick as the emotion race across her features, she quickly buries them under a stoic facade. From the corner of her eyes she sees Rick reach for his Colt gripping the handle of the gun.

Michonne continues, "You knew Andrea was planning something."

"Carol," Rick growls removing the weapon from his hostler.

"Did you help her? Are you a part of this?" Michonne asks.

"Rick…" Carol starts off.

"Answer the questions, Carol."

"Rick, we really need to speak alone."

"Enough with these games, speak."

Carol looks between the two warriors again before she shakes her head. She then reaches toward the middle of her back and Rick immediately raises his gun at her head. Michonne tense as the woman's blue eyes narrow at Rick with disbelief. A hard grimace covers her face as she raises one hand in surrender and slowing reaches for her back. She lifts her shirt, when she does Michonne hears a rustling noise as Carol slowly brings out what she had hidden. In her right hand is a clear baggie with two white pen looking sticks. Michonne takes a step closer as Carol holds up the baggie to Rick's and Michonne's eye level. Immediately Michonne recognize the items, they're pregnancy test.

XxXx00000xXxX

A panic starts to set within his chest at the sight of the pregnancy test. He can't imagine a world where Andrea is pregnant with his child, let alone pregnant. His eyes fall to Michonne's face, studying her knitted brows, dark eyes, and frown pulling her mouth downwards. She looks more disappointed than upset. She pulls the bag from Carol's hand and inspects the two tests.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Rick growls looking back at Carol, "Did Andrea say she's pregnant? Is Andrea pregnant?"

"They're negative."

"What?" He asks glancing between the two women.

"They're negative," Michonne repeats the relief pouring from her words. The panic lessens a fraction but remains, sitting heavily upon his chest.

"She's not pregnant," Carol clarifies.

"Who knows this?"

"Myself, Darla, Holly, and maybe a few others. She never came out and said she was pregnant, but she is dropping enough hints for people to have that assumption," Carol answers. She stands straighter, a weight lifting from her shoulders.

"And she's claiming Rick's the father?" Michonne asks.

"Yes."

"We barely…" Rick starts. He pauses, takes a few seconds before he speaks again, "We were always careful."

"When did she start claiming she was pregnant?" Michonne asks.

"A few days ago."

"Andrea is a fucking malicious bitch but she's smart," Michonne says with a chuckle. The panic remains within Rick's chest, Michonne laughing loosens the tight grip of panic. She smiles at Carol then Rick before the cold smile fades and she continues, "She's using the false pregnancy to have people rally around her. She's claiming its yours to make you a villain; so, when she turns against your leadership it will be a valid reason. Negan is many things, but he wouldn't kill a pregnant woman; I suspect she'll use the false pregnancy to save her own skin against him and the saviors."

Carol nods in agreement, "And when the time is right is will have a 'miscarriage'."

"Like I said, malicious bitch but smart."

"What are we going to do about her?" Carol asks.

"I'm going to kill her."

"Later," Rick replies. He watches as Carol's eyes widen again, "She betrayed us."

"That doesn't mean she deserves to die."

"She tried to kill me."

Michonne confession stuns Rick and Carol. The panic burns into a steady building fire of rage. His earlier desire to hunt Andrea down and kill her himself returns. He has to close his eyes and talk himself off the ledge as Michonne describe the events from earlier. Andrea tried to kill her while they were fighting walkers at the warehouse.

"Yet, you still saved her," Rick says in awe, opening his eyes to soak Michonne in.

"It was a mistake."

"Andrea is many things, but I don't think she deserves to die," Carol comments.

"Right now, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that we cannot show Negan anything is amiss here, everything needs to look as normal as possible and that includes Andrea," Michonne says.

Carol agrees with Michonne, her eyes widen before she adds, "We can stash her away out of Alexandria. If anyone asks about her, we can say she's on a run."

"We just have to make sure her supporters don't know her location."

"I can lure her out of Alexandria, but I may need another person to help subdue her."

"Sasha?" Michonne suggests.

Rick shakes his head, "She will know somethings up if Sasha tags along," he says pinching the bridge of his nose, "Tara or Rosita."

"Rosita is a good shot, you may need here. I'll take Tara with me. I don't think she'll suspect much with Tara."

"Leave first thing in the morning," Rick orders, "If you run into Saviors you can radio back and give us a heads up."

"What if Andrea doesn't want to go?" Michonne asks.

"I'll find a way," Carol says.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Michonne."

She doesn't startle, she felt his presence long before he calls her name.

"Michonne, you have to get some sleep."

"I just want to watch him sleep. He looks so peaceful sleeping," She whispers. Her eyes only leave her young son to float over to his sister sleeping in the crib beside his own bed. "She's an angel too. I can watch them both sleep all night."

"When we first arrived at Alexandria I use to stand here and watch them sleep for hours. In a clean bed with full bellies. In a warm house after a hot bath. In a safe community surrounded by people who love them," Rick recounts in a hush tone. He steps in behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his chest. Rick settles his chin upon her shoulder and Michonne melts against him resting her arms upon his.

In silence, they watch the two young children sleep peacefully before Rick pulls Michonne away from the door and gently closes it. Taking her hand, he leads her to the bedroom she now claims.

Once inside with the door close Rick pulls Michonne into him, he leans in and delivers a sound kiss. Michonne hesitate for a second before she returns to the heady kiss. She stifles a moan when she feels Rick's hands on her backside. He presses her against her body allowing his hands to roam the curves of her length. Their tongue pushes and sway against each other in a slow dance.

Pulling away from the heated kiss Michonne takes a step away from Rick. Understanding paints his face, he nods once and reaches for Michonne's hand. He guides her and they both sit on the edge of the bed.

"Is this because of what Carol said about Andrea?"

"In part, I want to be with you, but I don't want to rush anything. I don't want you to regret anything with me. You said what happened between you and Andrea was a mistake and I don't want us to be one."

Rick caresses her cheek and gently nudges her chin towards him to better gaze into her eyes.

"I regret many choices I've made when it comes to you-"

Her eyebrows rise and Rick chuckles at what must be a comical expression.

"I regret not asking your name. I regret not staying in contact. I regret not seeing you at the fair. I regret that we kept missing each other. I regret us losing so many years together, but I do not regret ever being with you."

"You always know what to say."

"I don't. I just know what's in my heart for you."

A smile pulls across her lips. She feels a tug at the center of her chest. She feels the warmth flooding the apex of her thighs. Michonne straddles Rick and wraps her arms around his neck then she slowly presses her lips against his. His hands frame her waist and he quickly deepen the kiss. They exchange a deep moan when their tongue touches.

"You were relieved when you found out she wasn't pregnant," Rick says breaking the kiss. Michonne groans and rolls her eyes, "If she was, would you…"

He doesn't finish the question afraid of what Michonne will say.

"I wouldn't have been happy, but the child would be innocent and yours. The child would be Andre's sibling and I would respect that."

"And us?"

"We would still be us. I told you, I'm with you."

Rick replies by burying his face against her neck and whispering soft kissing upon her skin.

Michonne moans then say, "I was disappointed at the possibility that I couldn't kill her right away, when I saw the test were negative I was relieved."

He pulls away and peers into her eyes, his eyes scanning her face. A smile pulls across her mouth as the same happens with his. They share a laugh, Rick hushes them with another salacious kiss before he pulls away again.

"We should get some sleep."

"Yea we should but…" Michonne doesn't finish as she stands from Rick's lap.

"But what?"

"It's later Rick," Michonne says removing her tank top. She allows it to drop before starting on her jeans. He moves from the bed to stand before her in a single leap. A lustful frenzy overtakes him as he seizes her lips, he trails his mouth from hers to her flat stomach pushing her hands away from her jeans. He quickly undoes the belt and buttons then peels the tight clothing down her slim legs. When Michonne stands before him in her undergarment he picks her up, he carries her to the bed and gently lays her down.

"You're right, it is later," Rick says pulling her panties off then diving towards the apex of her thighs.

XxXx0000xXxX

They've been awake for the past hour, neither able to sleep. Both dress and ready for the day, they spend their time going over the plan. It is a three-part plan, but it is a simple one. Part one: Michonne leaves with Negan, getting him out of Alexandria as soon as possible. Part two: Michonne and Dwight recruit as many people to fight within the walls of the Sanctuary. Part Three: three days after Michonne leaves, Alexandria with Hilltop attack the Saviors while the Kingdom takes out all key outpost.

The sound of banging at the door, seconds later his radio crackles with static at his side silences their conversation. Rick grabs his weapon and radio before he leaps off the barstool with Michonne following him. Rick tries the radio, wanting to assess the situation at the front gate. He calls into the device to get a reply, but the static only sounds louder. Rick rushes out the kitchen towards the loud banging of the front door with Michonne a step behind him with her Katana in hand.

Rick unlocks the door and swings it open to see a wide eyes and red face Daryl at his door with the darkness of the night surrounding him.

"They're on their way!"" Daryl says as a greeting.

Rick glances at his watch it is a fifteen minutes shy of six o'clock, "Fuck!"

"How far away?" Michonne asks.

"About ten minutes away, Rosita and I were doing a parameter check. We had to leave the truck and run through the woods on foot to beat them here."

"Did you get word to Dwight?"

"Yea, I –"

"What's going on?" Carl asks stumbling towards the three as he tries to put on his shoes.

"I got word to Dwight, I think that's what took them so long to get here."

"Fuck," Rick curses before turning to Michonne, "We have to get you out of here!"

"How many?" Michonne asks ignoring Rick.

"Looks like Negan brought everybody."

"Will we have time to get Andrea out of here?"

"There's no time, they'll have us surrounded in a few minutes," Rosita breaths coming to a stop in front of them. She bends and catches her breath.

"Enid told me about the tunnels Maggie once found, we can get Andrea out through there."

"She would never go willingly. Also, the exit can lead directly to the middle of the Savior's army."

The radio clicks before static rattles the air around them and a trembling voice speaks, "Shit tons of Saviors in sight; they're fast approaching!"

Rick finds Michonne's eyes, a torrent of things left unsaid passes between them before they erupt in action. Michonne turns quickly and sprints to the stairs toward the kids with Carl hot on her tracks.

"Carl wait!" Rick calls out before turning his attention back to Daryl and Rosita. He focuses on Rosita and say, "Spread the word, this is a regular pick up and to take up their regular positions."

The young woman nods once before she turns on her heels, taking off down the steps and onto the streets to complete her assign tasks.

Judith cries and Dre's protest from above gives Rick a brief pause.

"Dad!" Carl beseeches Rick while anxiety rolls off him in waves.

"Where's Sasha?"

"Watching Andrea, giving Carol a break."

"Good keep it that way, eyes stay on Andrea at all times," Rick instructs ignoring the sound of his younger children upstairs. "What we talked about last night-"

"Recon," Daryl finishes.

"Father Gabriel, Carol, Tara, Eugene, and anyone who will not draw too much attention. They all need to be on recon. We need to know where they are gathering, who are Negan's lieutenants, what type of weapons they're using, and how many they are."

Static sounds before the trembling voice speaks with tangible fear permeating through the air, "Rick! Rick! Negan is here!"

Daryl looks down at the radio in Rick's hand before he glances up at Rick. Additional words are not needed, Daryl descends the stairs in quick session rushing to complete an integral part of the recon plan.

Rick returns deeper into the house as Carl comes to a stop in front of him, "Dad?"

"Do you know where I keep the Kingdom and Hilltop long-distance radio?"

"Yea, in the graveyard. There's a pot wi-"

"Good, I need you to find Enid. Tell her where to find the radio and relay the recon message to the Kingdom and Hilltop, they'll know what it means."

"I can do it."

"Rick!" Michonne calls out approaching him and Carl, with the two children in arms. The children are dressed and seemingly calm.

"Daddy!" Dre greets him.

"Dadeee!" Judith repeats reaching out for him.

"No, I need you to help Michonne get the kids to Mrs. Neidermeyer and to tell Enid to get the message out. After that you need to be visible, Negan will be expecting it."

"RICKY!... Little Piggy!" The radio sounds in Rick's hand.

Rick moves to Michonne and his younger children; he kisses the tops of their heads before placing a passionate but short kiss upon Michonne's lip.

Breaking away from Michonne, he lifts the radio and says, "Open the gates, I'm on my way."

XxXx00000xXxX

The sight at the front gate rattles Rick. Pressing through the gates and spilling into the streets of Alexandria is Negan and what appears to be his entire Savior's army. Every Savior is armed to the nines with weapons: knives, automatics, machetes, semi-automatics, assault rifles, and other high-power weapons. Taking in the numerous Savior's fanning out deeper into Alexandria with their guns raise high and their eyes on alert Rick knows three things as facts.

First, Alexandria and the other communities will be slaughtered if they attack the Saviors head on. It appears Negan has brought most of his army and in doing so he will reveal vital details. Second, Rick knows he and the others are going to have to come up with a plan that can assure the Savior's defeat and the survival of as many of his people and allies as possible. Third, Negan reveals how important Michonne is to him which rattles Rick more than the sheer number of Saviors. Michonne says she doesn't have any feelings toward the man but insecurity bubbles deep within Rick.

Approaching the gate in a slow jog Rick shakes off his insecurities and fears; his eyes connect with Negan's and he sees the man own fears couple with anger living within his brown eyes.

"Negan!" Rick says coming to a stop, "You're early!"

"A king is never early or late, Ricky; they are simply on time," Negan replies without his usual shit-eating smirk plaster on his face, "Got that quote from the Princess Dairy, good fucking movie."

Rocking on his feet, he nods and tries to appear timid.

"Well we had a goo-"

"Where is she?" Negan cuts him off.

"Neg-"

Before Rick can finish saying Negan's name, the man shakes his head and holds up his hand. Behind him to his left, three-armed Savior burst into the house nearest to the gate; screams radiate from within the house followed by rapid session of gunshots silencing the screams. On auto-pilot Rick starts toward the house but two Saviors step in his path. He spins on his heel to face their leader.

"Negan! Stop!"

Cold hazel eyes turn from the house to land firmly upon Rick with a mirthless smile upon his face.

"Where. Is. She?"

This is not part of the plan, but Rick knows he can't risks anyone else's life. He looks at the Savior's walking out the forever silent house; one man lights a cigarette, inhales the fumes deeply before tossing the cigarette back into the open doorway. Flames sprouts up when the burning cigarette touches the floor expanding deeper into the house. Rick didn't know the couple who lived there well but they were a quite pair always helping whenever they could.

"I will burn down every building until I find her."

"She's in the cell we built."

"Where?"

"I'll take you to her."

Staring into Rick's eyes Negan loudly says, "If these fuckin' fools try anything kill them all and burn this place to the fuckin' ground."

Rick leads Negan to the house holding the cell and hopefully Michonne. He takes the longest route possible, stalling without being obvious. He expects Negan to taunt him, but the man remains silent as he follows Rick through the streets of Alexandria. Saviors linger throughout the streets with many Alexandria remaining hidden inside their homes, watching safely from their windows.

At the entrance, Negan looks down the stairs then over to Rick before he begins his descent. No words are needed, Rick can see the threat within his eyes. The two men entire the building and starts down the hallway; at the end of the hall sits Morgan on guard duty, he leaps to his feet with his eyes darting between Rick and Negan.

"Rick?" Morgan questions. He only shakes his head in response, motioning for Morgan to move from the door. Morgan follows the silent command allowing Negan to step into the room that holds the cell.

Negan opens door and steps into the room, blocking Rick's view of the space. The silence unravels Rick's nerves until he hears Negan release his own sigh. The tall man step further into the room, clearing Rick's line of sight, he sees Michonne siting on the floor below the single window looking calm but angry.

"Sammie," Negan breathes out his relief.

"About fuckin' time," Michonne snarls in response.

"Leave us."

XxXx00000xXxX

Michonne cuts her eyes to Rick, she can see the relief in his eyes. She feels the same, making it to the cell only a moment before their arrival. At first it was their contingency plan, if she couldn't leave Alexandria before the Savoir arrival then she would return to the cell and act as a prisoner while they hid Judith and Andre. The more the pair discussed it, they knew it couldn't be a contingency plan, it had to be the main plan. It was the only plan that could ensure the survival of many. At Negan's command, Rick nods and back out the room along with Morgan, keeping the cell door open.

Alone with Negan, Michonne slowly rises to her feet as she does Negan takes two long strides to come stand in front of her. He caresses her cheeks gently, Michonne forces herself not to stiffen at his touch, lifting her eyes she gazes into his hazel hues and smiles. His hand drops a second before he wraps his arms around her and hugs her tightly. Michonne forces herself to relax in his arms. Negan holds her arm lengths away, his eyes searching her entire length for any maltreatment. When he finds none, he pulls her back into his embrace before kissing her temple.

The second part of the plan fills Michonne with dread, but more so it angers Michonne to her core, she must leave Alexandria with Negan and return to the Sanctuary. She must leave Andre; the thought fills her stomach with moldy stones weighing her down. Along with the stones a rage burns deep within her. She just found her son. She just found Rick. She just found a family, she wants to be with and now she needs to leave. She knows to keep Andre and Alexandria safe, she needs to leave immediately with Negan.

Her throat constricts not wanting to speak the needed words, but she forces the words out in harsh whispers:

"Let's get the fuck out of here."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: 3 Things: First - This is a long chapter, 8k, please take your time. Second, thank you for taking the time to read. Lastly, I'm sorry. I am so sorry.**

* * *

 **Death's L4yers**

An outer body experience, it is the only thing that can describe what's happening to her. She hovers above herself watching as the hideous scene unfolds. She watches completely immobile as Negan taunts each person kneeling on ground in the center of the town. Armed Saviors intermingle with scared Alexandrian. She watches palpable fear contort individual's faces. Some cry silently with tears racing down their visage.

She watches as he stops and kneels in front of Carol. He smiles a sinister grin, all teeth with a dark glint shinning within his dark eyes. She wants to scream. She wants to tell him stop smiling. Yet she remains still. She remains silent. She watches unable to move, unable to help.

Negan raises Lucille and drags the barb wires down Carol's arm. Skin cling to the sharpen metal and scraps off her skin causing Carol to whimper and flinch from the pain. Out the corner of her eyes she notices Morgan move but it is Tobin who cries out first.

"Stop! You're hur-"

His words are left forever unfinish as a bullet eats his skull. He falls lifeless to the ground.

"Well fuck!" Negan exclaims as he rises to his feet, "Y'all motherfuckers are stubborn as fuck but I got one more lesson for y'all fuckers."

"Please Negan-," Rick starts to plea, "Please Negan… we… I- I'll get them in line."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Negan grins as he hands Rick Lucille, "It's your turn. One of these people have to go and you're going to do it."

XxXx00000xXxX

Xx 4 Hours Earlier xX

"Let's get the fuck out of here."

Michonne knows the words come from her mouth but she can't believe it. She doesn't want to leave, but it is part of the plan. Negan replies with another squeeze before releasing Michonne, he takes her hand leading her out the cell and out the house into the streets of Alexandria. Michonne quickly finds Rick's eyes, they drop from her face to hers and Negan's untied hands.

"If I find out you mistreated her in any way I will beat you within an inch of your life and make sure you watch as I personally light the torches that burn this place to the fucking ground."

"Nothing happened to her!" Rick says his voice rising. His eyes shift from Negan to Michonne then back before lower his eyes and voice, "We ain't harm her. She's been treated fair and well."

"My weapon!" Michonne growls pulling away from Negan stomping towards Rick. She pauses in front of him and points her finger at the center of his chest, "Where's my sword? I want it now."

"Here it is."

Michonne whips her head to see Carl standing nearby; her eyes narrow at the young man, he supposed to be watching his brother and sister.

"Serial Killer!" Negan shouts the sinister glee returning to his voice and eyes, "How the fuck are you kid?"

Carl narrows his eye at Negan, then looks over to Michonne and lifts her Katana to her, "You returned my hat to me, thought I'll do the same."

"How hospitable," Negan comments.

Michonne takes her Katana from Carl, swings it over her shoulder then turns her attention back to Negan but before she can say anything she notice several Saviors falling into rank surrounding Negan.

"Negan, we found something you gonna want to see," Karson says.

Negan glances over to Rick and Carl then at Karson, "I just found my Sammie and only had to burn down one house, I'm in a good mood Karson! Will this piss me off?"

Karson's eyes searches those surrounding him before he returns his attention to Negan, "It may."

Negan glances at Rick, Michonne expects to see a grimace but the man smirks at Rick before he follows Karson and other Saviors toward the front of the community. Michonne spares a look at Rick and Carl before quickly falling into steps beside Negan.

At the front gate, Michonne's heart drops when she sees the house engulf in flames. She prays the flames don't jump to a nearby house. Her heart drops another degree when her eyes land on the gather group of Saviors surrounding the truck of food they returned with from the previous day. Michonne hopes Rick and his people emptied the majority of the truck's contains but as she and Negan turns the corner at the rear and glance inside the delivery truck it appears to still be fully stock.

"Boss, check all these goodies!" Conner shouts pointing to the open truck.

"HOT DAMN, Ricky! You've been a busy little piggy."

His voice comes out low, in a control tenor, "We found the truck yesterday."

"Take anything from it?"

"Yea, I told everyone to take what they needed for the week but leave everything else inside the truck."

"That wasn't your place to do that," Negan says turning away from the truck to face Rick. Michonne watches Rick's blue orbs focus on the ground as an angry tick works the side of his jaw.

"I know that wasn't my decision, it belongs to you," Rick murmurs every word strain with controlled anger.

"You're damn right," Negan says coolly regarding the man.

"Sir," Dwight says coming up to the gather group with a band of Saviors falling in behind him, "Ain't nothing different from when we were here a few days ago."

"Y'all searched every house?"

"Is that necessary? You found me."

Dwight ignores Michonne and answers; "I searched several and found nothing but they're Saviors still searching, Sir."

"Negan, I don't want to be here longer than necessary. Let's go home."

It's part of the plan, to leave with Negan but more so to get Negan to leave Alexandria as soon as possible. Her stomach flips as her heart continues to sink to greet the somersaults, she sees the change within his hazel eyes and knows Negan doesn't plan to leave anytime soon. She sees the gears of thought spinning within the beginning of the smug smile.

"Actually… I was thinking about breakfast," Negan says gazing up at Rick. Michonne notice several Saviors fall into rank surrounding Negan, "What do you think Ricky? Since y'all being so hospitable and shit? How about some breakfast? It has been a long day for us already."

"Negan," Michonne begs.

His eyes flip down to greet hers questioning her distraught with silence and distrust before saying, "Another hour… two tops, I'm sure you can stomach that."

She clenches her teeth tossing Negan a cold glare before spinning to face Rick, "Get us a house, I need to take a shower."

Negan grins and swings Lucille over his shoulder before he leans back on air, "Great! Get some of your bitches to cook us, all of us, breakfast. Fuck, you can even use the tribute supplies from the truck!"

Rick grimace but nods at the command; he starts away to complete the order when Negan adds another one, "And Rick I want you and all those fuckers who were at the meadow to join me. I want us to have breakfast like a big fucking family."

XxXx00000xXxX

Xx 2 Hours Earlier xX

The sun has finally made its debut for the day, slowly rising in the east casting its beautiful rays upon the quaint town of Alexandria. Negan likes the Sanctuary; it reminds him of the new world. Alexandria is a dream of the dead past and false hopes. He can see why Michonne hates it here, but the beauty of the place is not lost upon him. He can see the possibility of living in a place like Alexandria, but he can also see the downfall. A place like Alexandria makes you weak, it makes you complacent. Perhaps if there weren't many enemies in the world, he could settle into a place like Alexandria and allow himself to become complacent.

The door to the room opens then closes, at her entry the room fills with her freshly washed fragrance. He glances over his shoulder, his eyes falling upon Michonne's salacious dark chocolate flesh wrap in a yellow bath towel. She looks mouthwatering. She approaches the clothes laid out on the bed for her.

"You went through my stuff?"

"Miss Edna did, she packed a few things for you."

She smiles at the thought of the old bat, "How is she?"

"Still alive."

"Be nice," She chides him. She picks up her bra and turns toward him, "Can you leave so I can get dress?"

"Nothing I haven't seen before."

"You haven't seen everything."

"I don't want you out of my sight."

Michonne's eyebrows knit together before she sighs, "Can you at least turn around?"

"Can I get a peek of a nipple?"

"Negan!"

He chuckles before giving her his back and a fraction of privacy.

He missed her. He worried about Michonne. She has left the Sanctuary before without so much as a good-bye, but this time was different. He recalled how vulnerable she was the day she left. He recalls her anger. The sadness that radiated from her pours like poison. It took everything for him not to mount a search party and look for her. That would have made him look weak. He came close several times, but it was the old hag who kept him from doing anything rash.

When outcast Simon showed up with Michonne's headband in hand, Negan called his army to arms demanding they be ready to ride out hours before dawn. He wasn't going to waste any time. Several of his lieutenants thought it maybe a trapped but their concerns fell upon deaf ears. His only concern, to retrieve Michonne and he was willingly to destroy anything that stood in his path.

He feels her presence slip up beside him; they stare out the window watching Saviors patrol the streets of Alexandria.

"Why did you leave?"

Michonne releases a sigh and turns away from the window towards him, "I started following the traitor."

This revelation peaks Negan's interest; he does the same, turning to give her his full attention as he does he falls into her deep hypnotic brown eyes, "You know who the traitor is?"

She drops her head for a second, shaking it no before returning her eyes to his, "I woke up that night got dressed and started walking around the Sanctuary. I was going to come to you, I wanted to thank you for the kindness you showed me."

He can't help himself, his hand goes to her cheek and Michonne closes her eyes and leans into it. He strokes her cheek before his thumb moves to caress her bottom lip, she pulls away from the contact and continues:

"Instead I found myself outside, I noticed someone sneak thru the hole in the fence."

"Why didn't you tell someone? Why didn't you come get me?"

"I didn't want to lose them. I didn't know if they were alone or with others. I wanted to find out who it was before I went to you."

"You followed them here?"

"I followed them this direction. I wasn't sure if they were here, but I snuck into the community. I did as much recon as I could before I was caught and placed in the jail cell."

"The traitor?"

"A man. Anywhere from 5'8 to 6'2. Slim build. He was wearing a blue shirt. Knows how to ride a bike, I followed him on foot before he climbed onto a hidden motorcycle."

Michonne just described about half of his army.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No. Threaten, yes but they didn't lay a hand on me."

He takes her in, looking her over for anything to contradict her claim. After he satisfied he pulls Michonne against his chest and hugs her tightly. Michonne relaxes in his arms before she cranes her neck and looks up at him.

"How did you know I was here? How did you know to come for me?"

"Simon."

"Simon?"

"He showed up at the Sanctuary with one your headbands and a piece of paper with a red A written upon it."

He feels he stiffen in his arms before she relaxes again.

"I thought it was a trap."

"Do you still think it is?" She asks.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

A knock on the door disrupt their quite moment.

Negan turns away from Michonne and growls: "Who the fuck is it?"

"Uhh… sorry… breakfast is ready," a Savior replies.

"About fucking time. I'm fucking hungry."

XxXx00000xXxX

Xx 1 hour 30 minutes earlier xX

Breakfast is held in Rick's dining room at the additional request of Negan. The table is set to hold Rick's and Negan's people: Daryl, Sasha, Glenn, Abraham, Andrea, Carl, Rosita, Dwight, Veronica, Karson, Conner, Simon, Arat, and Michonne. Outside other Alexandria take on the tasks to cook and feed Negan's entire army. It is a daunting task, but it gives Rick and his people the opportunity to take inventory of Negan's soldiers and weapon. Michonne and Negan are the last to arrive to the breakfast table.

"Hot damn Ricky, this is a nice fucking set up. Reminds me of Thanksgiving and shit or some fancy state dinner," Negan grins his approval as he walks around the elongated table.

Rick clench his teeth and allows Negan to fawn over the table before he takes a seat at the head of the table, Michonne sits to his left and Conner sits at his right. The other Saviors sits randomly around the table forcing Rick's group to sit in the remaining seats.

"Is someone going to say fucking grace?" Negan asks.

Glances are exchange before Carl reluctantly stands to his feet. He says a quick blessing over the food then retakes his seat.

"You raised him right, Ricky!" Negan states his approval. No one touches their food, it is only when Negan commands it that everyone slowly starts to dig into their food. The only sound comes from forks against plates meshing with people chewing; tension and a heavy awkwardness fills the spaces in the room as a tangible presence. Aside from Negan, almost every shoulder is stiff with apprehension as people's eyes bounce from their plate to each other. The silence is maddening and nerve wrecking.

"Y'all motherfuckers are quiet as hell!" Negan states glancing around the table, "Someone say something."

"The food is good!" Simon chirps.

"It's decent," Dwight adds.

"It's been a while since I had pancakes," Conner says.

Negan looks from his people to Rick's, "Y'all motherfuckers ain't got nothing to add?"

"Bacon would make this breakfast complete," Abraham grunts stuffing his mouth with pancakes.

Negan chuckles at his comment, "Fuck! I was ready to burn this place down. If I knew we were going to have a family fucking breakfast, I would have brought bacon."

"Y'all have bacon? Well hell!" Abraham exclaims.

"That would have been a treat," Andrea says smiling, "On the next run, I want to look for a waffle maker. I've been craving waffles."

"Speaking of runs," Negan starts, "Where did you find these goodies?"

"A group of us went on a supply run, we lucked out," Rick states.

"And you just happened upon a truck full of food?"

"We were at a grocery store in one of the smaller towns, they were some of the first places to go so most of the stores are not as picked over," Sasha offers.

"The store we went to was picked over, we took what we could and then headed out," Rick adds.

"It was actually Carl who noticed the delivery truck in the ditch a few miles from the store."

"Fucking Serial Killer, this kid is nothing short of amazing," Negan chuckles. He then glances to Michonne adding, "We need one of our own."

"Abraham got the truck working but it took most of the afternoon to get the truck out the ditch."

"Sounds fucking exciting. I fucking love teamwork," Negan jokes.

"It makes the dream fucking work," Simon quips with a chuckle.

"Blondie, you're fucking quiet. Did you go on this run as well?"

The hair on Rick's arm rise as the attention moves to Andrea. She glances around the table her eyes lingering on Rick, Abraham, Carl, and Michonne before shifting to Negan.

She doesn't answer for a long moment, "My arms and legs still hurt from trying to get the truck out the ditch and fighting walkers. They forgot to tell you about the walkers. They were swarming the area. I almost got bite."

"Well fuck!"

"And you didn't?"

"Let's just say, I had a guardian angel looking out for me yesterday," Andrea says her eyes flickers to Michonne before returning to Negan.

The table falls to another pit of deadly silence, Negan drops his fork gaining him the attention of the entire table. He pushes away from the table and stands to his feet; Rick sit up straight in his chair, every nerve in his body on high alert.

"Two things have been bothering me, Ricky," Negan says as he begins to pace around the table. He pauses behind Rosita and notices no one is eating, "Eat! Don't waste all this tasty food."

Almost all at once everyone resumes their meal, Rick can see even his lieutenants are on edge as Negan paces the dining room.

"As I was fucking saying, I need you to answer two questions, Ricky."

Rick nods, he clears his throat then asks, "What do you need to know?"

Negan does another lap around the table before he stops behind Carl, placing his hand on his son's shoulder, "I knew how important Carl is to you. I returned him to you as soon as possible. Why didn't you do the same with my Sammie?"

He forces his face to remain neutral, he looks from Negan to Carl before glancing at Michonne all while searching for a plausible answer. When the answer comes it doesn't come from him, instead it come from an unlikely source.

"You should direct that question to Michonne," Andrea says before stuffing her mouth with pancakes and powder eggs.

All eyes shift from Andrea who casually chews on her meal then to Michonne. Rick expects to see a cold panic in Michonne's eyes instead he sees a swell of disdain for the blonde woman.

"Michonne? She was locked up! How would Michonne know?" Karson asks.

Andrea holds up a finger with one hand and covers her mouth with the other as she finishes chewing her food. She swallows before looking over to Michonne then up at Negan.

"After the first night, we debated on what to do with her. Some people wanted to kill her. Others use her as leverage. A select few wanted to just let her go. In the end, the last was agreed upon. We tried to let Michonne go but she wouldn't leave," Andrea says then takes another bite of food.

Negan's attention shifts from Andrea to Michonne, who glares at the woman as if she wants to run her sword thru her.

"Michonne? Is what Blondie saying true?"

"Neg-"

"Yes." Her simple answers cut Rick off and silence him. "They wanted to follow me back to the Sanctuary. I couldn't allow them to do that, so I stayed here and hoped you would find me sooner rather than later."

It is Andrea's turn to scowl, Rick can tell she wasn't expecting Michonne to have a plausible answer ready. Negan seems content with the answer he nods to himself as he completes another lap around the table.

"You wanted to kill her?"

"People wanted revenge, we put a stop to it," Rick replies his eyes tracking Negan's every move.

"What was your second question?" Michonne asks when the sound of people eating uncomfortably fills the air for too long. Negan and Michonne exchange dark glares before Negan pulls a colorful fabric and an unfolded piece of paper from his pocket. He places the items on the middle of the table for all eyes to see. The colorful fabric is Michonne's headband. The paper has a simple red A on it.

"Who left this little gem for Simon to find?"

XxXx00000xXxX

Xx 1 hour earlier xX

Michonne feels her breath seizing in her lungs. She's having a challenging time breathing. A panic starts to set within her, but she fights away the urge and keeps a neutral expression painted on her face. She doesn't know how to help answer the question without revealing her alliance with Alexandria. She sends a silent prayer that Rick has a plausible answer; she knows this breakfast is a sham to incite Negan's wrath upon Alexandria. He's not a forgiving man and any wrong answer will give him a valid reason to extract his anger upon them.

She allows herself to glance at Rick, he stares at the paper and her headband in utter surprises. They forgot about the message to Simon. Michonne could slap herself over the head at the oversight. She knew Negan would want a reason why the kept her, but she forgot about the message left at the outpost. Her eyes flip to the other faces and everyone holds the same look except for Andrea. A smug smirk tugs at her lips. Michonne itches to leap across the table and rip it off but it is Carl's steely resolve that frightens her.

"I did it."

"Carl!" Rick immediately calls out.

"Dad, Negan deserves the truth," Carl replies to his father before turning his attention to Negan, "I remember Jose…er- Timmy telling me about a couple of outpost. I knew we were going to be close to one, so I came up with a plan. After we dug the truck out the ditch, we started back home but our way was blocked by a hoard of walkers, we went north to double back and that's when I purposely got Holly lost."

"What the hell, kid?" Glenn snaps.

"Fuck Kid!" Abraham exclaims.

"That was fucking stupid," Daryl adds in an angry growl.

"You could have been killed. You could have gotten Holly killed!" Rick reprimands Carl.

"I'm sorry dad!"

"Why would you do something as stupid as that?" Sasha asks.

Michonne is impress by how everyone plays their role. Their reactions are swift and authentic. Relief lifts the tension in her lung. Negan slows his lap around the table and returns to his seat next to Michonne, closely examining everyone at the table.

"Michonne wouldn't leave. We didn't have a way to get in contact with you, this was the only way I knew to let you know she was here," Carl beseeches. He looks at everyone at the table with earnest then turns the full weight of his lie at Negan, "My dad is trying… we're really fucking trying to survive and if you came to Alexandria and found Michonne here… you would have killed us all."

"Bullshit," Conner exclaims.

"I don't believe you," Arat adds.

"I'll admit, it does sounds like bullshit not the part about me killing everyone here, that is fucking true but the other part- bullshit."

"If you really wanted to let us know that Michonne was here you would have made more of an effort."

"I snuck away from my dad and the others, I didn't have time to walk up to the outpost door and explain myself. Plus, I didn't want to get shot, again. This was the easiest and quickest way to leave a message," Carl calmly declares.

Negan and his companions regard Carl, accessing his truth when Andrea speaks, "It was careless of you to do that without telling us but smart. I don't agree with your methods but you had the right intention."

Michonne has almost enough of Andrea's treachery. She wants to flip the table, whip out her sword and slice the woman's throat. She knows if she does so it will only serve to confirm Negan's suspicions.

"We'll talk about what you did later," Rick warns Carl. The young man nods his head and drops his chin to his chest staring down angrily at his barely touched plate.

"You have your hands full with this kid Ricky, but fuck if I'm not impressed with the balls on Serial Killer. He's an impressive little bastard," Negan jests, several of his lieutenants' chuckle along with him.

"Fuck you really putting it away," Simon comments from the other end of the table as Andrea reaches for her third helping of pancakes.

"We haven't had something like this for a long time plus I'm eating for two now."

A drop pin can be heard from three blocks away as a new silence fills the room for a full moment. Sounds resume all at once with surprise gasps, throat clearing coughs, laughter, congratulations, and questions being fired at Andrea.

"NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL A FUCKING FAMILY BREAKFAST!" Negan shouts in midst his laughter.

"You're pregnant?" Veronica asks, she's one of Negan's deadlier lieutenants.

Michonne peeks in Rick's direction, uncontrolled anger blooms across his face. They know the truth of Andrea's lie but to expose her means to expose all the other lies spoken.

"Well fuck eat as many pancakes as you want," Simon chuckles placing several pancakes on her plate.

"Congrats!" Rosita exclaims.

Daryl and Sasha exchanges confuse glances before offering their congrats to Andrea.

"Rick did you know?" Glenn asks.

"What the fuck?" Carl shouts.

"Fucking wait! Ricky, you're the daddy?" Negan asks looking between Rick and Andrea. Anger still lives upon Rick's face, his eyes narrow and his face is several shades away from stop sign red.

"Slick fucking Dicky Ricky! Congrats motherfucker!" Negan boasts roaring with laughter.

"I'm sorry Rick, I was going to tell you earlier but there was just so much going on," Andrea smiles. She pushes her chair away from the table and stand, several Savoir straighten in their chairs reaching for their weapons. She raises her hands slowly then moves one to her front pocket and removes a small photo.

"About a week ago, Heath, Holly and I went on a run for medicine. Holly was a medical technician, it was just dumb luck that the sonogram machine was working," Andrea says coming to stand close to Michonne and Negan. She holds out the ultrasound picture to Negan who takes it from her.

"HOT FUCKING DAMN!"

"How far along are you?" Michonne asks playing along Andrea's games.

"Ten weeks," The woman says touching her flat stomach.

"That's the right thought Ricky, repopulating the world," Negan stands showing the picture to Michonne then moving to show a wide eyes red face Rick the picture. He slaps the man hard on his back and Rick gasps in a breath, "It is a scary thought bringing a child into this world but stick to the new rules and you'll be fine."

Negan moves from Rick to return next to Andrea who remains standing next to Michonne, he tries to return the picture to Andrea, but she steps away.

"Keep it. Let it be a reminder that we're trying to serve you for our survival. For the survival of our future," She says with her hands still spread across her abdomen.

"Slick Dick Ricky, you have a fine bitch, fucking smart too," Negan chuckles.

Andrea smiles at him then looks over to Michonne and says, "Maybe it will be motivation for you to start repopulating the world too."

Negan smirks at Andrea, he moves closer to Michonne and drops his hand onto her shoulder, "Our babies gonna be pretty as fuck."

She responds the only way she knows how within the trap Andrea sets. Michonne places her hand on top of Negan's and gives it a light squeeze before she looks up into his eyes and smile.

"FUCK! What an amazing breakfast. It was fucking enlightening. We must do this again!" Negan laughs before he picks up Lucille and sweeps out the room.

Michonne slowly stands to her feet and looks around the table, "Let's go."

With her command the other Saviors rise to their feet and follow after Michonne and Negan. Michonne assures the last of the lieutenants are out the house while she lingers on Rick's front porch.

"It feels like stones are in my stomach," Michonne says when she feels his presence next to hers.

"It could have been worst."

She nods in agreement, "We need to keep an eye out for Andrea."

"She's not going to leave Sasha's sight."

She nods again, "You also need to inform anyone who was mentioned in the heaps of lies told at breakfast."

"Glenn will make sure everyone who needs to know, know the exact details."

"I think he believed it."

"I hope so."

"Rick," Michonne says finally turning to face him, "Hug Andre for me and tell him I'll be back. I promise, I'll be back."

Rick doesn't have a chance to answer, Michonne is off the porch and walking towards the house her and Negan occupied earlier. She glances to her left and spots Negan's pet Austin's eyes following her everyone. She scowls at him before doubling her step needing to convince Negan to leave Alexandria.

When Michonne opens the door to the house, another bout of stress constricts her lungs again. The stones in her stomach turns poisonous churning the meal in her belly into bile. She thought she was almost home free but the rise and fall of laughter tells her otherwise. She recognizes the voice that accompanies the laughter; Michonne turns the corner into to the family room to find Negan sharing a drink with Spencer.

"Sammie! We have a guess."

He smiles, lifts his glass of dark liquor and says, "Hello!"

"Join us."

Her eyes harden, travelling from Negan to Spencer, "It's only ten am."

"It is five o'clock somewhere," Spencer jests. Negan chuckles and lift his own glass.

"Pass," Michonne sneers before leaving the room, giving the men a sense of privacy.

In the adjacent room, Michonne hugs the mirroring wall and listens as the men continue their conversation. They drink and talk before starting what sounds like a game of pool. Her nerves are raw with anxiety as she waits for Spencer to make his move. Michonne wonders if this is part of Andrea's malicious plan. The conversation is dull until Spencer brings up breakfast; she stands at attention, her nerves ratchetting to a painful level. Spencer comments about his late-mother, who was the founder of Alexandria and was once a state Senator. He calms Rick is a weak leader and he will be better suited for the job, it is in his blood to lead people.

Spencer lays out his plan as Negan surprisingly listens without retort. Michonne wants to rush the room and kill Spencer. She muses if Negan will find his death and her motives suspicious. As Spencer states his plan to lead Alexandria, Michonne knows this is not Andrea's plan. The woman would never be for a plan where she's not in charge. Negan response is minimal until Spencer states he will need help removing Rick from power and claiming Alexandria for the Savior.

A deafening silence emits from the room, Michonne sits on edge unnerve by the silence until a laughing roar bellows destroys the quiet. It is manic and comes from a dark sinister place. Michonne moves from her spot along the wall and slowly makes her way into the room. She enters the room and watches as Negan continues to laugh.

"What so funny?" Michonne asks.

His laughter starts to fade and he plasters a grin upon his lips while glaring at Spencer; before Negan can answer, Arat bursts into the room and interrupts him.

"Sir, there's a situation outside."

Negan gulps the remains of his scotch, "This fucking place."

He follows Arat outside with Michonne and Spencer follow him. Michonne almost doubles over in horror when they come to a stop in the middle of the street, directly in front of Mrs. Niedermeyer's home. It is the home where her children are hidden. Rick, Daryl, Sasha, Glenn, Rosita, Carol, Andrea, Abraham, Holly, Carl and other Alexandrians gather in the street.

"Aye he had enough!" Daryl says pushing a Savior off a man withering on the ground. The Savior pushes Daryl back and before the man can retaliate Rick steps in front of him.

"What the fuck now?" Negan roars as he takes in the scene.

"We caught him stealing from our tribute."

Michonne can barely recognize the man but she's sure it is Heath. Thickets of blood covers his face, his left eye is swollen shut, and a wide gash exposes pieces of his skull; the man looks barely recognizable. The emotions of the day crash against Michonne, she glances up at Negan's face and fear causes her to tremble. A newfound anger contorts his face before it breaks into a grin. In that moment, Michonne knows people are going to die and there is nothing she can do about it without exposing them all.

xXx000xXx

It is the fear on Michonne's face that causes Rick to panic. Her wide eyes. Her trembling bottom lips. Her heaving chest. Rick pulls his eyes from Michonne to Negan as the madman begins to chuckle. It starts off low before it rises with a maddening note. Chancing a glance at Michonne, he's surprised to see her face complete blank, void of the previous tangible fear and any emotion. Her eyes are hard but there's a determine glint to the brown orbs.

"Negan," Rick starts lifting his hand in surrender as he moves closer to the man. Negan sobers immediately. The laughter dies and the street echoes from the stillness.

"Negan, let me take care of this. Let me handle him," Rick pleads.

"Nah, Ricky! Nah!" Negan says shaking his head.

"I'll make this right, just give me a chance."

"Oh, yes you will. You're going to make this right as fucking rain. See Ricky, it takes a real man to admit when he made a mistake. And I ain't got qualms saying I fucked up," Negan says pausing for dramatics before turning around to the gather individuals and yelling, "I FUCKED UP!"

"That little display at the clearing- you know, that magical night we first met – I should have done that in front of everyone, but I had confidence in you Ricky. I thought you would whip these sorry ass motherfuckers into line, but I see I was wrong."

"Negan please don't allow this to happen. I swea-" Rick starts but doesn't finish when Negan holds up Lucille to his face. He snaps his finger with his free hand and several men continue to beat the already downtrodden Heath. The man gives one final grunt before his body goes limp, but the beating continues.

"Ricky, no need to beg, yet. There's going to be plenty of time for that later. I am a man of second chances. A man of last chances. So, before I give you this last chance I'm going to show these good people why they should cower in fear."

Negan lifts Lucille in the air and draws a circle with the bat. At the signal that causes several of his lieutenants to move into the crowd and pull Alexandrians from the sideline to the center of the street. The lieutenants yell for each person to get on their knees as other Saviors pull their weapons out and point them at other Alexandrians.

Carol, Glenn, Eric, Holly, Darla, Glenn, Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, and Carl are pull from the crowd and placed on their knees. At the sight of Carl being force to his knees Rick takes a step towards the line of his people but Negan stops him with the barred bat raised to his face. He pauses, connecting eyes with Carl, the young man gives him a solid nod as he settles onto his knee alongside Darla and Glenn.

When Sasha is chosen to join the others in the street, Daryl reaches out for her, but she's pulled away from his reach. He tries to attack the Savior that picked Sasha, but the man shoves him away.

"Daryl stop!"

"Daryl don't!"

Rick and Sasha call out respectively. Their yells don't reach Daryl's ears, or the man doesn't care because Daryl swings on the man. As soon as he lands a blow to the man's jaw four more Savior descends upon him with plummeting fist, jagged elbows, and swift kicks.

Sasha screams out and starts rushing towards him, but Negan swings his bat in her direction, blocking her path. "Nah-uh, honey. I wouldn't do that if I was you."

Her eyes go from Negan to Daryl, he signals Sasha amid his beating. She looks grief stricken with tears streaming down her face but complies and kneels alongside Abraham.

"Now, same rules apply as last time. Anyone speaks, screams, or step out of fucking line and there will be shit to fucking pay," Negan roars to the crowd. He hands Lucille to Arat before turning to face Rick. "The first one, Ricky is a freebee. I'm not a fan of you methods Ricky but you have fucking guts! You have balls and I can fucking respect that, but not everybody has guts."

Rick's eyes track Negan as the man turns away from the crowd and face Michonne. His vision blurs and his mind blanks for a moment with terror, he forces himself to focus at Negan's rant. He draws closer to Michonne, but it is not the woman he's talking to, his attention is on the person besides Michonne, Spencer.

"You want me to do your dirty work, so you can take over but why not just kill Rick yourself and just take over?"

"N-n-no, it's ju-"

Negan holds up his hand and Spencer cease speaking, "You know what I'm thinking, because I have a fucking guess. It's because you have no fucking guts."

The long blade Negan produces appears from nowhere as he stabs Spencer in his abdomen. He twists the blade, rips it across Spencer's stomach, and causes the young man's entrails to spill him his torso. Spencer gasps, eyes wide with disbelief. Whimpers, gasps, and cries sound from the onlookers. Rick glances at Michonne, she appears stone face with a bored expression blooming on her face.

"Now that's done, onto business-" Negan says retrieving Lucille from Arat. He walks over to the Savior's still beating Daryl, he signals for his men to stop their abuse. He kneels then whistle before he stands. Rick feels helpless staring from Daryl who's barely breathing to Sasha who cries silently with her eyes steadily upon him. Negan moves from Daryl over to Heath and without pause Negan raises Lucille and allows the weapon to descend upon the man already on death's door. Loud gasps ring across the morning air. Cries follows the loud gasps and one person cries out for Rick to stop Negan.

Negan stops his beating of the man, and nods to Arat; the woman turns and fires into the crowd. Olivia crumbles to the ground in a heavy heap.

"A kill shot! Well fuck!" Negan laughs with a sinister glee, "I thought it was supposed to be a warning shot? Or was it a head nod that was supposed to be a kill shot? Either way, fuckkkk!"

XxXx00000xXxX

Xx Now xX

An outer body experience, it is the only thing that can describe what's happening to her. She hovers above herself watching as the hideous scene unfolds. She watches completely immobile as Negan taunts each person kneeling on ground in the center of the town. Armed Saviors intermingle with scared Alexandrian. She watches palpable fear contort individual's faces. Some cry silently with tears racing down their visage.

She watches as he stops and kneels in front of Carol. He smiles a sinister grin, all teeth with a dark glint shinning within his dark eyes. She wants to scream. She wants to tell him stop smiling. Yet she remains still. She remains silent. She watches unable to move, unable to help.

The plan: she was to pretend she was a prisoner at Alexandrian, she was to convince Negan to leave as soon as possible and go with him, and if anything, else happened she was to do nothing. It was part of the plan but how much longer could Michonne stand by idle and allow Negan to hurt these innocent people. People that Andre consider family, people that she was getting to know and appreciate.

It was part of the plan for Michonne to remain impartial to Negan's action but how could she masks the complete disdain she felt for him in this moment. How could she not flinch when he will reach out for her? How could she not grimace when he try to jest with her?

Negan raises Lucille and drags the barb wires down Carol's arm. Skin cling to the sharpen metal and scraps off her skin causing Carol to whimper and flinch from the pain. Out the corner of her eyes she notices Morgan move but it is Tobin who cries out first.

"Stop! You're hur-"

His words are left forever unfinish as a bullet eats his skull. He falls lifeless to the ground. Michonne closes her eyes fighting the bile that threatens to overcome her.

"Well fuck!" Negan exclaims as he rises to his feet, "Y'all motherfuckers are stubborn as fuck but I got one more lesson for y'all fuckers."

"Please Negan-," Rick starts to plea, "Please Negan… we… I- I'll get them in line."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Negan grins as he hands Rick Lucille, "It's your turn. One of these people have to go and you're going to do it."

Negan completes another signal and a hoard of Savoir descend upon the people of Alexandria. They pull people from the crowd, dragging them to nearby houses, and tossing them inside.

"Go to the back! Make sure no one gets out."

Two houses from Mrs. Niedermeyer they force Tara, Father Gabriel, and one other Alexandria inside. They repeat the process with three more houses including Mrs. Niedermeyer's home; stationing Saviors at the back entrance of each home as other Saviors drench each house with kerosene. Simon lights a cigarette as he stands guard at the first house awaiting Negan's signal. Michonne can feel her heart screeching to a halt at the sight. Once everyone is in position, Negan turns his attention back to Rick.

"Now it is time for the finally lesson," Negan claims, "It's your turn. One of these people have to go and you're going to do it."

Before Rick can plead and asks for mercy Negan stops him, "For every minute you waste I will light a house on fire. For every minute of my precious time you waste, one of these fuckers in line are going to die!"

Michonne watches as Rick nods and steels his nerves. He lifts Lucille and starts down the line-up of his kneeling friends. Sasha tears has yet to stop, her eyes still on Daryl who's barely breathing. Darla's eyes are on the house with the white shutters, her daughter along with Judith and Andre are hidden within the walls of the gasoline soak house.

Glenn's eyes are also on the house, Maggie also an occupant of the house. Carol's eyes are close with her hands clasp together in prayer. Carl eyes are lock onto Austin in defiant, his eyes hold the promise of revenge. Eric's eyes are also close, and he looks to be in some prayer as well. Tears and snort covers Eugene's and Holly's face. Rosita and Abraham look up with a quiet determination coming to term with the fate.

Abraham give a subtle nod to Rick causing him moves towards the man. They lock eyes for a second before Rick whispers an apology, Abraham simply raises his head and close his eyes as Rick lifts Lucille above his head. Just as he starts to swing the bat down onto Abraham's head Negan yells out.

"STOP!"

Ricks bring the bat down onto the concrete ground besides Abraham. His head whipping towards Negan with wide eyes.

"This- this is not right," Negan says shaking his head and bringing his hand to his chin, "I like Big Red. A fucker who can wear the fuck out of a handle bar mustache deserves to live."

Negan walks up and down the row coolly regarding the kneeling people, when he comes to a sudden stop in front of Glenn.

"Him. I want you to take care of him."

Rick hesitates.

Time ticks away.

Michonne can see the indecision in his eyes. He told her it was Glenn who first saved him when he was trapped in a tank. It was Glenn who saved her from Woodbury. If it wasn't for him, she would have died there. She would never have a chance to live and reunite with her son, to reunite with Rick. Maggie. His wife. The woman is pregnant with their child. The woman who befriended her comes to mind. She will lose her husband and the father of her child.

"Simon!" Negan calls out.

The man flicks his lit cigarette to the first house and leaps away as fire catches instantly. Simon pulls out another cigarette as he moves to the next house, Mrs. Niedermeyer's home. A shot is fired and Rosita yelps in pain before she slumps over. Her hand goes to her thigh, within seconds blood pours from her wound.

"That was a warning shot, Ricky. Tick. Tick."

Rick doesn't move. Michonne looks up at Simon who inhales his newly lit cigarette. Austin raises his gun from Rosita's thigh to Carl's head. Glenn locks eyes with Rick and nods at the man; tears fill Rick's eyes knowing he'll need to kill one of his dearest friend. His steps are heavy as he walks over to Glenn.

Time ticks away.

"Hurry, Ricky, another minute is almost up," Negan taunts.

The two men regard each other with respect before he raises the bat over Glenn's head.

XxXx00000xXxX

"Rick!"

His head snaps up and he locks eyes with Michonne. Her eyes are still devoid of any emotion. He doesn't know exactly when she moved to now stand behind Glenn, but her brown eyes are steady, and her face shows absolute resolve. Staring into his blue eyes she places one hand on Glenn's shoulder and speak words that shatters his heart:

"I am Negan."

With those words, she bends slightly down and jabs her sword into Glenn running him through with her blade.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rick bellows dropping to his knees in front of his friend. Lucille clatters to the ground besides him as he stares at the blade protruding from Glenn's torso. His eyes are wide as he glances down at his chest. Michonne slowly removes the blade from his body, he watches as the blade retracts from Glenn. He can see Michonne's lips softly moving against Glenn's ears before she steps away from the man as he clutches his chest and falls over onto Rick. Rick holds one of his best friends in his arms as tears blurry his vision and the sounds of wheezing fill his ears.

He looks up from Glenn and watches Michonne picks up Lucille before she saunters over to Negan who stares at her with an impress grin plaster on his face, his hazel eyes twinkle with delight.

She hands him his weapon and says: "Enough of these games. Please, let's go home."

* * *

 **A/N: Hello All! Are you all okay? Are you still with me? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you hate me right now? Remember, I am so sorry. Really sorry. I mean by now, you all should know I love cliffhangers and messing with y'all emotions. Please be nice when commenting, please. As always thank-you so much for reading, sharing, favoriting, following, and commenting. I truly appreciate it all.**


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